Elizabeth Tsurkov’s release ends ordeal but exposes fragility of Iraqi state

The release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, an academic kidnapped in Baghdad more than two years ago, has closed a difficult chapter for her family but underscored another for Iraq’s fragile politics.

The kidnapping by Kataib Hezbollah is a sobering reminder of the power that Iran-backed militias continue to wield in Iraq’s security landscape. The National has been told that concessions had to be made to the group to secure Ms Tsurkov's release.

“This case illustrates the extent to which militias continue to operate beyond the law in Iraq and challenge the authority of the government,” a Western diplomat told The National. “That makes Al Sudani's balancing act even harder as he seeks to assert sovereignty,” he said, referring to Iraq's Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.

The US President Donald Trump announced late on Tuesday that Ms Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli kidnapped in March 2023, was safe at the US embassy in Baghdad after more than 900 days in captivity. Mr Trump also named the powerful Tehran-allied Kataib Hezbollah militia as her captors.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Mr Al Sudani said Ms Tsurkov's release was the culmination of “significant efforts exerted by our security agencies over many months”.

“We reaffirm once again that we will not be lenient in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, and we will not allow anyone to tarnish the reputation of Iraq and Iraqis,” Mr Al Sudani added.

Ms Tsurkov arrived in Israel late on Wednesday after a brief stop in Cyprus, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. She was immediately taken to Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv for medical tests and to reunite with her family.

Neither Mr Trump nor Mr Al Sudani gave details on how she was freed. But a Shiite politician close to militia groups told The National that her release came after “months of negotiations with Kataib Hezbollah and there was no security operation to win her release”.

In return, he added, the group secured a “commitment that there will be no strikes to be launched from the US and Israel against the armed factions in Iraq

A military spokesman for Mr Al Sudani said “security and intelligence efforts and high-level co-operation with local parties” helped authorities to “uncover and reach the location where she was held”.

The spokesman, Sabah Al Numan, described her captors as “outlaws” and vowed that the security services will “continue to pursue all those involved in this crime and ensure they are held accountable in accordance with the law”.

Kataib Hezbollah has been listed by the US government as a terrorist organisation since 2009. Shortly after Ms Tsurkov's abduction, Israel accused the group of holding her. A spokesman for the group was not available to comment.

There has been mounting pressure from Washington on Baghdad to secure her release since Mr Trump took over, another politician said. Friday’s signing by Mr Trump of an executive order allowing the US to punish governments that unjustly detain its citizens was “the main catalyst to push the release”, he added.

The order allows the US to designate nations as state sponsors of wrongful detention, using the threat of associated sanctions to deter countries from taking Americans into custody. One of the provisions is that the order would apply to cases in which a government is responsible for or complicit in “the unjust or unlawful detention of third-country nationals in which cases the United States has a national interest”.

The latest development comes amid growing pressure from the US on both Baghdad and Beirut to rein in Iran-backed groups. Kataib Hezbollah's influence speaks of unresolved fissures in Iraq's security landscape.

Last month, Mr Al Sudani approved the dismissal of two senior commanders in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which is linked to Kataib Hezbollah, after deadly clashes with police at a government building. The PMF is a government-sanctioned paramilitary group that includes Iran-backed militias,

The group was also accused of being behind the 2015 kidnapping of more than two dozen Qatari falcon hunters in southern Iraq, some of whom are members of the ruling family. They were released two years later.