An Australian journalist and two members of her show crew have reportedly been detained by police in Lebanon this week, after attempting to film a mother’s rescue of her children from their father’s home.
60 Minutes presenter Tara Brown, the show’s producer, and a cameraman were in Lebanon to cover a private operation headed by Australian mum Sally Faulkner, to get her two children back.
The incident comes after the kids' father, Ali Elamine, allegedly took five-year-old Lahala and two-year-old Noah away ‘for a short holiday’, but then refused to return the kids to Ms Faulkner.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Faulkner was working with a professional agency to take her children back to Australia, while the 60 Minutes crew accompanied them to film the story.
Ms Faulkner was reunited with her children after managing to isolate them from their grandmother, and it is reported that all three are now in a safe house, although the location is unknown.
Meanwhile, police apprehended Brown and the crew, and local media outlets are treating the latest update to the story as a kidnapping. It is claimed that four men driving a silver car grabbed Lahala and Noah from a bus stop as they waited for their grandmother.
Confirming the alarming news, a representative from 60 Minutes said in a statement: “We can confirm a crew from 60 Minutes has been detained in Beirut. We won’t be giving out any more details, other than to say we are working with authorities to get them released and back home ASAP.”
We will keep you updated on the story as it unfolds.
