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Interesting that this happened the day after Israel killed a bunch of Hamas big turbans in Doha. [IsraelTimes] Family thanks US and Israel for helping secure Tsurkov’s release from Iran-backed militia, which says it freed her ‘to facilitate withdrawal of US forces,’ prevent ‘conflicts’ in Iraq
An Israeli-Russian graduate student from Princeton University in New Jersey who was kidnapped by a Shiite militia in Iraq in 2023 has been released from captivity and is now in US custody, US President Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
and the student’s family said on Tuesday.
While Iraq said a "group of outlaws" kidnapped Elizabeth Tsurkov,
…one of those presumably brilliant idiots who oughtn’t be allowed out without a keeper… Trump announced she was released by the powerful pro-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
Kataeb Hezbollah militia group.
"As a culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months, we announce the release of the Russian citizen, Elizabeth Tsurkov," Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan
 ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
i said on X, without noting her Israeli citizenship.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Tsurkov "was just released" by Kataeb Hezbollah "after being tortured for many months" and was now at the US embassy in Baghdad.
Sabah al-Numan, the military front man for the Iraqi prime minister, said later in a statement that "following extensive and high-level security and intelligence efforts... authorities succeeded, on September 9, in locating and reaching the site of her detention."
Tsurkov was delivered to the US embassy to "facilitate her reunion with her sister, a US citizen," he added.
Numan also said Tsurkov was kidnapped by a "group of outlaws" without naming any party, and stated that Iraq’s security forces "will continue to pursue all those involved in this crime and ensure they are held accountable."
’ALL THE LOVE WE HAVE BEEN WAITING TO SHARE’
Tsurkov’s sister, Emma, a US citizen who has campaigned for her release, said she was in Washington for meetings this week when she heard the news from Adam Boehler, the US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
The sisters were able to connect by phone and expect to be reunited in the next 24 hours, though the details were still being worked out, Emma Tsurkov said.
"I heard her voice for the first time in 2 1/2 years and still couldn’t believe it, and I just melted on the floor," she said in an interview with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "I heard her voice and she heard mine, and it was the most joyous experience of my life, and we both started sobbing and screaming."
Emma Tsurkov also issued statements thanking Trump, Boehler, the US embassy in Baghdad and the non-profit group Global Reach for their roles in securing the release, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli hostage point man Gal Hirsch "for their dedication and determined leadership."
"My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days," she posted on social media. "If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be."
Global Reach, which works for the release of Americans held in captivity abroad, said that Tsurkov had received a medical assessment at the American embassy in Baghdad.
Netanyahu later said he called Tsurkov’s family.
"Through teamwork led by Hostage and Missing Persons Coordinator Gal Hirsch, which lasted many long months and after great efforts, we succeeded in bringing about her release," said Netanyahu.
"This evening I spoke with Emma and Avital her sisters, and in the emotional conversation I told them that all of Israel is happy to see her back home," he continued.
"We will continue to fight with strength and determination until we bring all of our hostages back home — both the living and the fallen," he said, referring to the 48 hostages still held by Paleostinian terror groups in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
Hirsch issued a separate statement saying he spoke with Tsurkov and that "during her captivity she was aware of and heard about our efforts to return her. This is a priceless moment."
PHD CANDIDATE
Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, went missing in Iraq in March 2023.
She had likely entered Iraq on her Russian passport and had travelled to the country as part of her doctoral studies.
She was active on Twitter, where she has tens of thousands of followers and describes herself as "passionate about human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
In Baghdad, she had focused on pro-Iran factions and the movement of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr as part of her research on the region.
She was kidnapped as she was leaving a cafe in the Iraqi capital’s Karrada neighborhood, an Iraqi intelligence source told AFP in 2023.
Israeli authorities blamed Kataeb Hezbollah for her disappearance, but the US-designated terror group implied that it was not involved.
KATAEB HEZBOLLAH
Kataeb Hezbollah did not claim in 2023 the abduction, but a source in the group told AFP Tuesday Tsurkov was released to spare Iraq any "conflicts."
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," the source said.
"She was released and not liberated. No military operation was carried out to free her," the source added.
Like other gangs trained by Iran during the war against the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group (IS), Kataeb Hezbollah were integrated into the regular security forces as part of the Hashed al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilization force (PMF).
However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
the faction has developed a reputation for sometimes acting on its own.
The group and other Iran-backed Iraqi factions have been calling for the withdrawal of US troops deployed in Iraq at Baghdad’s invitation as part of the anti-IS coalition.
US forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria were repeatedly targeted by Kataeb Hezbollah and other pro-Iran groups following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
They have responded with heavy strikes on Tehran-linked targets, and the attacks have halted.
Report says freed student Tsurkov to return to Israel, will be treated like Gaza hostages
[IsraelTimes] Freed Israeli-Russian hostage Elizabeth Tsurkov is expected to be flown to Israel in the coming days and will undergo the same process as hostages freed or rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza, the Kan news outlet reports. Hostages brought back from Gaza have been hospitalized in special wards, where they are able to reunite with family while gradually recuperating and undergoing various medical and mental health checkups.
According to Kan, Israel was not asked to make any concessions in exchange for her release, the circumstances of which have remained murky.
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