In an unusually sharp rebuke, Iraqi lawmaker Sajad Salem launched a fierce attack on Kataib Hezbollah after its security chief alleged links between kidnapped Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov and the October 2019 protest movement known as Tishreen.
US President Donald Trump announced Tsurkov’s release earlier this month, accusing the group of involvement in her abduction. A report by Asharq Al-Awsat revealed she was freed without a deal.
Salem, a prominent figure in the 2019 protests, issued a statement on Wednesday responding to what he called the “lies” of Kataib Hezbollah’s Abu Ali al-Askari. He argued that the group’s kidnapping of Tsurkov was financially motivated, similar to the abduction of Qatari hunters in 2015. “They discovered by chance her Israeli citizenship, and then their handlers took over the case,” he said.
In a second point, Salem noted that Tsurkov had worked in Iraq for years and met with various factions, including Kataib Hezbollah. “Where were their supposed great security capabilities?” he asked. He rejected claims of a negotiated release, describing the militia’s stance as “threats followed by submission.”
A previous Asharq Al-Awsat report confirmed the group had failed to secure even a prisoner exchange and that her release occurred without ransom.
Salem dismissed Kataib Hezbollah as “marginal players with no real value, mere tools serving external agendas and tearing apart Iraq’s social fabric.”
The MP has a history of confronting Iran-backed factions. He earlier faced lawsuits from groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and attempts were made to bar him from running in upcoming elections, efforts rejected by Iraq’s electoral commission.
Civil groups welcomed Salem’s latest statement, describing it as “courageous.” Protest circles have long accused Kataib Hezbollah of orchestrating deadly attacks against demonstrators, including incidents in Baghdad in December 2019 that left 23 dead and more than 100 injured.
