Lebanon grants bail to Australian mother

Lebanese man drops charges of abducting his children against former wife and four journalists

A Lebanese judge decided yesterday to release on bail an Australian woman and four journalists charged with abducting her two children from their Lebanese father in Beirut.

Sally Faulkner and a fourmember Australian television crew were charged last week for abducting Faulkner’s two young children from their father, Ali Al Ameen. “I have agreed to release the Australian crew and the mother on bail after the children’s father and grandmother dropped the personal charges against all five of them,” judge Ramy Abdallah said.

In a phone call, Al Ameen confirmed he had dropped the charge against Faulkner and the crew from Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes programme. Faulkner and the Channel Nine crew are still facing charges by Lebanon’s public prosecutor, but they could be charged in absentia.