Shelly Kittleson, US journalist kidnapped in Iraq, is freed
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it would release abducted U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson, reported Reuters, the New York Times and the Associated Press. It added that she must leave Iraq immediately.
Kittleson, 49, was kidnapped on March 31 on a busy street in central Baghdad, Iraq, Reuters and USA Today previously reported. Both U.S. and Iraqi officials said Kataib Hizballah was responsible for the abduction and the group offered on April 1 to negotiate with the Iraqi government for her release in exchange for several militia members being held by authorities, according to the New York Times.
A spokesperson for Kataib Hizballah said Kittleson was released “in appreciation of the patriotic positions” of Iraq’s prime minister, who had been negotiating for her release, reported the AP and the Times.
“This initiative will not be repeated in the future,” the militia’s statement said, according to the same sources. “We are in a state of war waged by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam and in such situations, many considerations are disregarded.”
Kittleson is an independent journalist living in the Middle East, USA TODAY previously reported. Her work has appeared in multiple publications over the past decade, including Al Majalla, Al-Monitor, ANSA and RAI Radiotre, among other freelance work, according to her public LinkedIn account.
She’s originally from Mount Horeb, a small village in south-central Wisconsin, her mother, Barb Kittleson, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA Today network, on April 1.
“She just wanted to help people. She’s just a journalist,” her mother said.