Iraq’s powerful armed group Kataeb Hezbollah on Tuesday freed US journalist Shelly Kittleson, a week after she was abducted in Baghdad, according to the Iran-backed group and US officials.
Her release came just hours before the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire following more than a month of war that had escalated into a wider regional conflict.
“In recognition of the national stances of the outgoing prime minister, we have decided to release the American defendant Shelly Kittleson, on the condition that she leave the country immediately,” Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official in the Iran-backed group, said in a brief statement.
He added that this was an exceptional gesture that would “not be repeated again in the coming days, as we are in a state of war launched by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam, and in such cases many considerations are discarded”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said that she had been freed.
“We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” Rubio said in a statement.
A senior Iraqi security official had earlier told AFP that authorities arrested a member of a pro-Iran group believed to be connected to the abduction.
Rubio said that Kittleson was abducted by Kataeb Hezbollah, which is blacklisted by the United States. Kittleson, who is based in Rome but has reported extensively from the Middle East, worked for publications including Al-Monitor.
President Donald Trump’s administration had earlier defended itself over her kidnapping, with US officials saying that the government had warned her of threats.
Baghdad was once notorious for kidnappings and attempted abductions, but they have decreased as the security situation in Iraq improved in recent years.
Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov was kidnapped in Baghdad in 2023 and was held for two years until her release last year.
