‘Truth will come out’ in child abduction plot

A freed Adam Whittington has left Lebanon nearly four months after first being detained for plotting the abduction of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner’s two children from Lebanon and warned the Nine Network ‘‘the truth is coming out’’.

A new image of Whittington taken at Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport showed the ex-soldier sporting a long, thick beard and full moustache but giving a thumbs up.

‘‘I’m sitting at a gate right now ready to fly out of Lebanon finally, thank God!" Whittington said.

‘‘I’m shocked really, we’ve come across so many hurdles to get out of here.’’ And in comments ominous for the Nine Network, Whittington said he would be telling his side of the story in full.

‘‘Finally, finally the the truth is coming out, very soon, don’t worry about that.’’

Whittington is a dual Australian-Briton. Initially his case was being handled by the British Embassy because he travelled to Lebanon on his British passport. This led to Whittington’s plea for Australia not to abandon him. But on Saturday, local time, Whittington singled out Australian diplomats, praising them for their efforts.

‘‘To the Australian and British embassies, thank you for your support, in particular the Australian embassy in the last week, again directing my thanks to Mark and Antonio, you guys have been awesome.’’

He also thanked his family, supporters and the Australian media.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian Embassy had been providing consular support from the outset.

‘‘Initially, the Lebanese authorities would only deal with the British Embassy as Whittington entered Lebanon on a British passport,’’ she said. ‘‘However, we have been providing ongoing consular support and have remained in contact with Whittington, his family and his lawyers.’’

Whittington, his British accomplice Craig Michael and two Lebanese "fixers", Mohamed Khaled Barbour and Mohammed Hamza, have languished in jail since their arrest on April 6. The four were detained along with Sally Faulkner and the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes crew, which included star presenter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice and production staff David Ballment and Ben Wilkinson. Faulkner and the Nine crew walked free after allegedly paying father Ali Elamine a sum worth an estimated half a million dollars.

Elamine also forced Faulkner to relinquish her full custodial rights to her children granted by the Australian courts.

Nine allegedly paid Whittington’s firm for the child abduction operation in return for exclusive access to film the dramatic snatch, which took place on a busy shopping street in a Hezbollah controlled district in southern Beirut.