The Iraqi government has launched an “investigation” into the abduction of an Israeli-Russian researcher in the country after Israel blamed his disappearance on armed Iraqi factions loyal to Iran, government spokesman Basem Al-Awadi said.
An Iraqi government spokesman told Reuters on Friday that the government had launched an investigation into Surkov’s disappearance in Baghdad.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Zurkov went missing after traveling to Iraq for research purposes for Princeton University.
Speaking to an Iraqi television channel on Thursday night, al-Awadi said, “The Iraqi government is actually conducting an official investigation,” in response to a question about Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Surkov.
Al-Awadi said: “This issue is at this level… and because of the overlap, there is no official statement regarding this until the Iraqi government completes its official investigations and reaches conclusions.”
“After that, God willing, there will be statements or official positions from the Iraqi government,” he said in an interview with Al-Ahed TV, a coalition of armed groups backed by Iran and close to the Popular Mobilization Forces, which eventually became part of the official Iraqi forces.
In a statement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office blamed the Iraqi Hezbollah militia for the case, saying “Elizabeth Surkov, an Israeli-Russian citizen who went missing months ago in Iraq, has been arrested by Shiite Hezbollah Brigades fighters.”
Mandib Hezbollah is one of the most important units of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
The political coalition, of which the Popular Mobilization Forces are a part, supports the current government led by Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.
“Elizabeth Surkov is alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday.
A Western diplomat in Iraq, who asked not to be named, arrived in Baghdad “in early January 2022” with a “Russian” passport.
In Baghdad, Surkov focused his research on pro-Iranian factions and the Sadrist movement led by Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, according to several journalists who interviewed him.
On his personal website, Surkov claims to speak English, Hebrew, Russian and Arabic. His website adds that he is a fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy and a researcher at the Forum for Regional Thinking, an Israeli-Palestinian think tank based in Jerusalem.
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