US journalist Shelly Kittleson to be released after kidnap in Iraq, militia says
The freelance journalist was abducted in Iraqi capital Baghdad last week
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Paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah announced on Tuesday that Kittleson would be released on condition she leave Iraq immediately.
The US journalist was kidnapped from a Baghdad street corner on March 31 and outlets including The New York Times and the Associated Press have reported that she was released this afternoon, citing Iraqi officials.
However, this information has not been independently verified and Kittleson's whereabouts have not been shared.
Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official in the Iranian-backed militia, said in a statement: "In recognition of the national stances of the outgoing prime minister, we have decided to release the American defendant Shelly Kittleson."
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Kittleson's friend and emergency contact, CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas, said he had seen the "alleged statement" about her release.
However, he explained there was "no official confirmation from the United States government that this is true".
Plitsas previously told CBS that Kittleson had been warned by the US government that her name was on a list in the possession of Kataib Hezbollah, which was said to be plotting to kidnap or kill female journalists.
Earlier on Tuesday, two Iraqi security officials and one official from the pro-Iran Coordination Framework political bloc said that attempts to negotiate her release had been problematic.
The three officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they have not been given permission to speak about the case publicly.
One of the security officials said that an official with the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-backed militias, had tried to communicate with the kidnappers to negotiate Kittleson’s release but had run into difficulties with the Kataib Hezbollah leadership.
They said: “The primary challenge is that the leaders of the Kataib militia — specifically, the commanders of the battalions — are nowhere to be found. No one knows their whereabouts, and the process of establishing contact with them is extremely complex.
“These leaders have gone underground, maintaining no active lines of communication, out of fear of being targeted.”
The State Department previously said that it is working with the FBI to secure Kittleson's release while the US state department has warned citizens not to travel to Iraq.