From Kataeb Hezbollah source: Tsurkov freed ‘to facilitate withdrawal of US forces,’ prevent ‘conflicts’ in Iraq
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Illustrative: Young men raise the flag of the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group during commemorations marking the second anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on January 8, 2022. (Hussein Faleh/AFP)
BAGHDAD — A source in the powerful Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah says that academic Elizabeth Tsurkov was released to avoid any “conflicts” in Iraq and facilitate the withdrawal of US forces.
Kataeb Hezbollah doesn’t claim Tsurkov’s abduction but the source tells AFP that she “was released according to conditions, the most important of which was to facilitate the withdrawal of US forces without a fight and to spare Iraq any conflicts or fighting.”
“She was released and not liberated. No military operation was carried out to free her,” he says.
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