US President Donald Trump's hostage envoy on Wednesday criticised Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani over his failure to secure the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov.
Adam Boehler said Mr Al Sudani had “consistently made false promises” to former president Joe Biden's administration about releasing the Princeton University doctoral student – “but now Donald Trump is on to you”, he said in a post on X.
Mr Boehler said that if Ms Tsurkov is not released, Mr Al Sudani “should be fired or worse [would be] complicit”.
Israeli-Russian Ms Tsurkov disappeared while on a research trip to Iraq in March 2023. Israeli citizens are not allowed to travel to Iraq, but she entered the country on her Russian passport. In the only apparent sign of life since her kidnapping, she appeared to feature in a video broadcast on an Iraqi television station in November 2023.
No group has claimed responsibility for her disappearance but Israel has claimed she is being held by Kataib Hezbollah.
“Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we see Iraq as responsible for her fate and well-being,” a statement from the Israeli government said at the time.
Iraq opened an investigation into her disappearance, but militia sources told Al Araby Al Jadeed this week that there were no negotiations in progress for Ms Tsurkov's release.
Mr Boehler, a businessman who was part of negotiations on the Abraham Accords during Mr Trump's first term, was selected as the new hostage envoy in December. He has since been involved in Gaza hostage release talks, travelling to the Middle East to meet regional officials involved in negotiations.
“He has negotiated with some of the toughest people in the world, including the Taliban, but Adam knows that no one is tougher than the United States of America, at least when President Trump is its leader,” Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Adam will work tirelessly to bring our great American citizens home.”
