Shafaq News- Baghdad

Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov revealed on Saturday that her captors allegedly provided her with “a plethora of information” about Kataib Hezbollah’s operations during her captivity in Iraq.

“I happily provided [the information] to the FBI after my release,” she said.

Her remarks came a day after US federal authorities arrested Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, who was charged with coordinating at least 18 attacks across Europe targeting Americans and Jews, in addition to two planned attacks in Canada, according to a federal criminal complaint. US media reports identified al-Saadi as affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Iraqi armed faction designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization.

Tsurkov linked the investigation into her kidnapping to the case against al-Saadi, noting that one of the lead FBI agents involved had worked on both files.

In September 2025, former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Donald Trump announced the release of Tsurkov, a doctoral researcher affiliated with Princeton and Stanford universities. She disappeared in Baghdad while conducting field research and was believed to have been held for more than two years by Kataib Hezbollah, although the group denied involvement in her abduction.