60 Minutes host Tara Brown along with the rest of the crew have finally been freed from a Beirut prison on bail. Amongst them was also mother Sally Faulkner whose ex husband Ali Elamine took her children Lahela, 5 and Noah, 3 on a three-week holiday to Lebanon and did not return them as agreed. An attempt by the 60 Minutes crew and Faulkner was unsuccessful and got them charged with kidnapping.
After two weeks of being locked in cells on the other side of the world, reports say that the Nine Network struck a seven-figure compensation deal to have the charges dropped, however Elamine has denied receiving any payment. He told radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O this morning,“Money is not an issue all I care about is kids. The only thing I requested is not to use the footage (kidnap) and keep the kids out of this, they’re only hurting the kids.” The charges against Faulkner were also dropped in exchange for a divorce and custody of the children. The agreement includes the allowance of Faulkner to visit her children in any country but Australia. Elamine also said, “I don’t want the kids to see her (Faulkner) in handcuffs. So we’ll grab lunch and pretend it’s a normal day.”
Faulkner will remain in Beirut to meet with Elamine, their children and the judge today. The Australian crew are now on their way back home but Judge Rami Abdullah will further investigate to see if they still breach any laws. At Beirut airport, the crew celebrated their journey home with a round of Beirut beer.
60 Minutes team begin to make their way home to Australia, with 9News’ Darren Wick. pic.twitter.com/TBhL4Qd4gD
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) April 20, 2016
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