From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Iraqi militias said to deny reports of talks to free Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov
Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
Three Iraqi sources close to Iran-backed militias reportedly deny that there are ongoing negotiations for the release of abducted Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Speaking to the Qatari news outlet Al-Araby al-Jadeed, the sources say that reports recently published in the Israeli and Arab press are incorrect, and that there are no “open lines or mediators” with Israel.
Two weeks ago, journalist Barak Ravid wrote on his X account that Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein had told him that the researcher, who is believed to have been kidnapped in Iraq by a local terror group nearly two years ago, is alive, and Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed Shia al-Sudani is working for her release.
Tsurkov, a 38-year-old student at Princeton University, disappeared in Baghdad in March 2023 while doing research for her doctorate. She had entered the country on her Russian passport. The only sign of life from her since was a video broadcast in November 2023 on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media purporting to show her.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. But Israel believes she is being held by Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi terror group that it says also has ties to the Iraqi government.
Earlier in January, a senior Israeli official said Israel is working with allies in a renewed push to win Tsurkov’s freedom.
