Sally Faulkner has claimed that in the hours following the ill-fated abduction attempt of her two children from her ex-husband Ali Elamine in the Lebanon with a 60 Minutes crew that her son had been circumcised.
The distraught mother was left stunned after she realised that his father had ensured the three-year-old had the Muslim religious procedure, but without her knowledge or consent, Women’s Weekly reports.
‘That was a complete shock,’ says Sally. ‘It was all I could do not to cry. How could Ali do that without letting me know, without discussing it. It was just another reason to detest the man who’d taken our children.’
Circumcision is not compulsory in Islam but it is an important ritual aimed at improving cleanliness.
Sally Faulkner (left) has revealed her son Noah (right), three, was circumcised without her knowledge or consent. Her other child is Lahela (pictured centre), five
Faulkner’s children Lahela, five, and Noah, three, remain in Lebanon with their 32-year-old father Elamine after the Brisbane mother returned home to Brisbane six months ago.
In May she wrote an open letter about ‘the hardest struggle’ of her life, and revealed her ‘promise’ to bring to bring them ‘home’ in Australia, she wrote in Mamamia.
She had enjoyed ice-cream with the youngsters in Beirut before she boarded a flight home with Tara Brown and the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes crew.
‘I made a promise to them in that last conversation: ‘Mummy will find a way to bring you back to Australia, everything will be okay don’t cry’,’ Ms Faulkner wrote.
‘Failures can be expected, but I will never accept that I cannot keep my promise to my children,’ she wrote.
‘My fight will carry on long after the media coverage is gone and I guarantee you one thing. I will bring my children home.’
The children, five-year-old Lahela (right) and three-year-old Noah (left), are now living in Beirut, Lebanon, with their 32-year-old Ali Elamine (centre)
32-year-old Ali Elamine with five-year-old Lahela (right) and three-year-old Noah (left)
Following the bungled kidnapping attempt in Lebanon Mr Elamine forced Ms Faulkner to exchange her right to the children for the charges to be dropped
Ms Faulkner said Lahela had told her in their final meeting: ‘Mummy, I want to come back but Daddy won’t let me’.
She said she then told the children Beirut would be ‘just a fun holiday with Daddy, and Mummy will come and bring you both home very soon’.
Ms Faulkner thanked all those who ‘cried tears with my children’.
She is collecting letters from strangers to ‘explain their perspective on my mission’ for the children to read when they are old enough ‘to fully understand how hard I fought and that their mummy never, EVER gave them up or wanted this’.
Ms Faulkner spent two weeks in the Lebanese prison alongside Tara Brown and the 60 Minutes crew after the kidnapping attempt before she was released and returned to Brisbane (pictured after release in Beirut)
In exchange for the charges against her being dropped Ms Faulkner was forced to sign over the custodial rights of their children (Mr Elamine pictured)
In May a family source said Mr Elamine had kept their children from contacting Ms Faulkner.
‘No Skype, no photos, blocked on Whatsapp … and (Mr Elamine) is not answering phone calls from her,’ the source said.
Ms Faulkner spent two weeks in the Lebanese prison alongside Tara Brown and the 60 Minutes crew after the kidnapping attempt before she was released.
In exchange for the charges against her being dropped Ms Faulkner was forced to sign over the custodial rights of their children.
At the time Mr Elamine insisted Ms Faulkner would be allowed to visit her children in Lebanon.
Ms Faulkner said Lahela had told her in their final meeting: ‘Mummy, I want to come back but Daddy won’t let me’
Tara Brown (pictured) and her crew spent time in a Beirut prison following the bungled kidnapping
The Brisbane mother returned to Australia without the children after her botched attempted at getting them back
Sally Faulkner (pictured) was released on bail after relinquishing custodial rights to the children
The moment Brown and Ms Faulkner were freed from prison after two weeks behind bars