JERUSALEM, July 5 (Reuters) - An Israeli-Russian academic who went missing in Iraq a few months ago is alive and being held there by Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday. It said she had gone to Iraq for research purposes on behalf of Princeton University in the United States. According to the university's website, Tsurkov is pursuing her PhD at Princeton's Department of Politics. A Princeton spokesperson declined to say whether Tsurkov was in Iraq on the university's behalf, citing policies and a federal law governing students' privacy and safety. Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most powerful Iran-backed militia groups there.

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Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu's, Elizabeth Tsurkov, Tsurkov, Tsurkov's, Irena, Elizabeth, Michael Hotchkiss, Maayan Lubell, Rami Ayyub, Simon Lewis, James Mackenzie, Alistair Bell, Daniel Wallis, Himani Organizations: Hezbollah, Israeli, Princeton University, Princeton, N12, Princeton's Department of Politics, State Department, Twitter, Timor Azhari, Thomson Locations: Israeli, Russian, Iraq, United States, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Baghdad, Washington