'Working for her ​safe departure': US confirms release of journalist Shelly Kittleson abducted in Iraq

Officials from Pentagon, FBI and Iraqi ⁠Supreme Judicial Council among those who ‌assisted in securing Kittleson's ​release, says Marco Rubio

The Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah has released abducted US journalist Shelly Kittleson, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.

She was abducted in late March in Baghdad.

Officials from the Pentagon, the FBI and the Iraqi ⁠Supreme Judicial Council were among the people who ‌assisted in securing Kittleson's ​release, Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report.

"We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her ​safe departure from ⁠Iraq," he added.

Kataib Hezbollah had said earlier on Tuesday that it would release Kittleson and that she must immediately leave Iraq.

Her release follows intensified ⁠efforts by ‌the Iraqi government and several influential Shi'ite leaders, who applied pressure on the militia group ‌to secure her freedom, a government official with knowledge of the ⁠situation told Reuters.

West Asia news site Al-Monitor said Kittleson was a US freelance journalist based ‌in Rome who had covered several ‌wars in the region and had contributed articles ‌to the outlet.

A video purporting to show ‌Kittleson was shared by a social media outlet close to Kataib Hezbollah on Tuesday.

In the video, a woman identifying herself as Kittleson appears standing against a plain background, speaking in English directly to the camera.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the ⁠video, which ⁠if confirmed would be the first images of Kittleson published since her kidnapping. It could also not be verified when or where the video was ​filmed.

(With Reuters inputs)