Talks of release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov kidnapped in Iraq ‘false’: report

Sources close to the leadership of militant groups in Iraq have denied talks regarding a prisoner exchange deal for the release of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who has been kidnapped in Iraq for nearly two years, are taking place.

The sources told The New Arab’s Arabic language sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that recent media reports about ongoing negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostage are not true.

Tsurkov, a joint Israeli and Russian citizen, was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 reportedly whilst conducting research work on the Sadrist movement in the country.

“This is something we have only heard about in the media,” one of the three sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. “There are no channels of communication or mediators with the Israeli entity.”

According to reports in Israel, Lebanese and Iraq media last week, Iraqi armed factions were reported to be seeking a prisoner exchange deal with Israel to secure Tsurkov’s release in return for captured Hezbollah fighters.

Reports have suggested that Iran-linked Iraqi-Shia militia Kataeb Hezbollah, unrelated to the Lebanese movement, are holding Tsurkov although this has not been confirmed by the group.

The sources who spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed are close to a coalition of pro-Iran Iraqi militant groups known as the Islamic Resistance Factions and claimed “there are no negotiations with the Israeli occupation or any other mediator regarding Tsurkov”.

They also denied previous claims that the Iraqi government is taking action in this regard. In a remark directed at Baghdad, one source commented: “Do they even know where she is and who has her, so that they can act?”

Last Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein stated that Tsurkov is alive and that efforts are being made to secure her release.

He also confirmed that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is working towards securing her release.

About three weeks ago, Israeli media reported that Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons, along with his counterparts from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Austria, met with the family of Tsurkov.

The purpose of the meeting was to “coordinate the efforts of foreign prisoner and missing persons coordinators and their respective governments in order to increase pressure on Iraq to determine Tsurkov’s whereabouts and secure her release from captivity”.

Tsurkov, who is also a Russian citizen, is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science at Princeton University and a researcher at the Forum for Regional Thinking in Israel and the Newlines Institute in Washington.

In 2023, she travelled to Baghdad on her Russian passport to study pro-Iran militias and the movement of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr as part of her research on the region, according to several journalists who had met her.

She was abducted after leaving a cafe in the Iraqi capital’s Karrada neighbourhood, with blame falling on the pro-Iran militia.

Tsurkov is also known for her political activism, supporting causes such as the Syrian revolution and opposing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.