Freelancer Shelly Kittleson Freed After Baghdad Kidnapping

0:00On April 7th, American journalist Shelley Kiddelsen is free after being kidnapped in Baghdad last week. The 49-year-old freelancer got released on Tuesday, according to an Iraqi official close to the matter. She's built a solid career covering the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria, often working solo, without big news outlet support. Earlier in the day, the Iran-back militia, Katayib Hezbollah, announced they decided to let her go. Officials from the group told reporters it was part of a swap for their members held by Iraqi authorities. This came after tough negotiations that hit some roadblocks. Kiddelsen have been living abroad for years, basing out of Rome at one point, and scraped by on tight budgets like many independence. She headed back to Iraq right before the abduction, even though US officials warned her repeatedly about specific threats. Still, she chose to stay. The kidnapping involved two cars southwest of Baghdad, near Al-Haswa, in Babel Province. One crash during a chase, and she got

1:02moved to the second vehicle that sped off. Iraqi sources confirmed the details earlier Tuesday. Negotiations wrapped up successfully, despite the hurdles, highlighting the fragile security for journalists in the region. We'll keep watching how this plays out for freelancers on the ground. From across the country, powered by AI, this is US News Today. I'm Kori with the story.