Iraqi forces release kidnapped German curator

A German curator who was kidnapped in Baghdad has been released by the security forces, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Major General Yahya Rasool said on Friday.

"Security forces free German activist Hella Mewis," Rasool said in a tweet. There were no other details given for her release.

Zikra Sarsam, an Iraqi activist and a friend of Mewis, said "we got preliminary information from the Joint Operations Command that Hella was released by the security forces."

Hella Mewis was kidnapped on Monday by armed militants on Abu Nawas Street near the Bait Tarkib art collective at around 8 pm (1700 GMT).

Mewis was born in Berlin and has lived in Baghdad for several years, where she worked on establishing the Bait Tarkib collective, which aims to promote the work of young Iraqi artists.

In 2016, Mewis organised a women's bike demonstration along the river Tigris in Baghdad.

She is said to have political contacts in the country and be well established there. (dpa)