Ali el-Amine, the father behind the 60 Minutes Beirut saga, has shared a picture of his two young children looking happy and having fun.
Drinking juice, eating pastries and grinning from ear to ear at a table with their father, the three look like any other ordinary young family enjoying a day out.
But it was just a week ago that el-Amine made the decision to free his children’s mother from jail, and almost three weeks since her original arrest.
An image of Elamine with his two children posted to Facebook. Source: Facebook.
In what has now made headlines across the world, Elamine's ex-wife Sally Faulkner travelled to Beirut with a 60 Minutes crew of four people, as well as four child recovery experts, hoping to recover her two children and bring them back to Australia.
And while the recovery was initially a success, it wasn't long before el-Amine and police located the group and arrested them all.
Two weeks of jail time and court negotiations followed, with a deal finally being stuck last week. The 60 Minutes crew returned to Australia immediately, with Faulkner following shortly after. The child recovery experts, however, remain in jail.
60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown and Faulkner upon their release. Source: Channel 9.
Speaking with KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O last week, el-Amine said he had taken the couple's two children - Lahela and Noah - to Beirut for the summer to be with his family, but decided to stay after Faulkner moved on with another man.
Eventually, he became aware of Faulkner's recovery plans and asked that she stop.
"I could see she was trying to orchestrate like, a kidnapping," he said sadly.
"I told her, please stop whatever you're doing because you're jeopardising our safety," he said.
"She was kind of trying to pinpoint our every move every time she Skyped the kids, and that's when I said we can't communicate with you, it's not to our favour."
El-Amine outside a Beirut court. Source: Getty.
El-Amine also told the radio hosts that he had not explained the situation to his children truthfully, but rather that Faulkner's short visit had been a surprise.
Faulkner forfeited her custody rights to both children in order to secure her release, but el-Amine has said he will work with his ex to ensure a relationship is maintained in the future.
Sally Faulkner is reunited with her family in Australia.
Top Comments
Do any of us truly know the truth here? A good portion of the quotes in this forum are from media sources and snippets of information given by the parents who are desperately trying to sensor what information is released to the public. Their marriage has broken down, jealousy has lifted its ugly head and unfortunately like most parents in this situation they are now using the children like pawns. Winners = no one, Losers = the kids. Good parents put their children first, both parents, always, they don't take aim at their former partner because they're hurt. Did it ever occur to these 2 'parents' that the best solution might be shared custody, after all the father claims that money is not an issue, so the cost of airfares should not be an issue. Why not let the kids, say, spend a year in each country. If they truly want well balanced children they need to start acting like their love for their children is stronger than their distaste for each other. In time the children will make up their own minds about what has occurred and when that happens I wouldn't like to be in the fathers shoes, I don't think the past 3 weeks will bode well for him. I also think assuming that the mother let her children go to Lebanon because she was 'in the throes of a new relationship and wanted time to enjoy it' is an irresponsible comment, how do you know that? But now that the comment is out there you'll have some people believing that what you're saying is legitimate and not just your opinion. The parents have both made mistakes in this case, they both have, but how callous to upload a photo of your children 'enjoying themselves' just days after everything that occurred in the 2 weeks prior. I think the father has become a fame junky.
Don't smile too long Mr Lebanon karma will come after you. What goes around comes around in life. Everyone knows children need both parents in their life, especially their Mum. You are a despicable human being to use your children like a weapon against their Mum.