American journalist kidnapped in Iraq warned of threats: officials – National
An American journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks ago and was turned back, an Iraqi official said on Wednesday.
American and Iraqi officials said Shelly Renee Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction. A freelance journalist who worked for years in Iraq and Syria and was described by those who knew him as having a deep knowledge of the region and the communities he covered, Kittleson was kidnapped on a street in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday and has not been found.
Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said Kittleson wanted to enter the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9 but was turned back because he did not have a media permit and because of security concerns due to “increasing hostilities and bombings in Iraqi airspace because of the Iran war.”
He later entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days issued to allow foreign nationals detained in neighboring countries to “pass through Iraq and reach their countries through existing travel routes,” he said.
Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before he was kidnapped and was staying at a hotel in the capital, he said.
A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad’s Saadoun Street where American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026.
(AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)
“The incident is being closely monitored by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of al-Sudani, Alawi said. He noted that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being questioned.
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The Iraqi army chased his captors and arrested one suspect after the car he was driving crashed, but the other captors managed to escape with the journalist in a second car.
An Iraqi intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said Iraqi authorities believed he was being held in Baghdad and were trying to secure his release. He said authorities “have information about the kidnapping group” but declined to provide more details.
U.S. officials suspect Kittleson was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia linked to Iran that has been involved in previous kidnappings of immigrants. The group has never claimed to be abducting and the Iraqi government has not said anything publicly about the kidnappers.
An Iraqi intelligence official said that before Kittleson’s abduction, the Iraqi people had contacted American officials to inform them that there was a threat of his abduction by forces allied with Iran.
Dylan Johnson, the US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X Tuesday that “the State Department had previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against him.”
A US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said, “He was contacted several times with warnings about threats against him,” including the night before the kidnapping.
Kittleson’s mother, Barb Kittleson, 72, who spoke to The Associated Press at her home in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, said she heard about the abduction in a news report Tuesday and that the FBI visited her home Tuesday night.
When asked how he felt about the kidnapping he said, “It’s very bad.”
Barb Kittleson said she last exchanged emails with her daughter on Monday. Shelly Kittleson posted pictures of herself in Iraq, her mother said.
“Journalism was what he wanted to do so badly,” Barb Kittleson said. “I wanted him to go home and not do it, but he said, ‘I’m helping people.'”
Surveillance footage from Baghdad obtained by the AP shows what appears to be the moment the journalist was kidnapped. It shows two men approaching a man standing on the corner of the street and putting him in the back of a car. It seems that there was a struggle to close the car door before the men got into the car and it drove off.
Iran-backed forces in Iraq have regularly attacked American facilities in the country since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
