US journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner last week, was released on Tuesday, US and Iraqi officials said.
The development came after the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement that it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on Tuesday last week.
Its condition was that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release.
Photo: AFP
Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio early yesterday confirmed Kittleson’s release in a statement on X.
“We are relieved that this American is now freed and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he wrote.
Rubio thanked Iraqi authorities, as well as the FBI, the US Department of Defense and other US agencies for their work toward securing Kittleson’s release.
According to one of two Iraqi officials who confirmed her release before the US announcement, Kittleson was freed in the afternoon.
The officials did not share her current whereabouts, but said that prior to her release, she had been held in Baghdad.
Kataib Hezbollah said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details.
It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in the future.”
Kittleson, 49, had lived abroad for years before the kidnapping, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
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