Sally Faulkner has revealed the chilling moment she realised her children had been taken by their father to Lebanon and were not coming back.
The Brisbane mother said every part of her ‘wanted to fall apart’ when it clicked that her estranged husband Ali Elamine had no intention of returning their two kids.
‘When he answered the Skype call, I could just see his face and I said to him “what’s wrong?” and he looked at me and he said “plans have changed” and that’s when every part of me just wanted to fall apart,” Ms Faulkner said.
‘I said “what do you mean?” I didn’t quite believe it and he said ‘plans have changed Sal, the kids aren’t coming home.”‘
Devastated: Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner (pictured) has revealed the chilling moment she realised her children had been taken by their father to Lebanon and were not coming back
Ms Faulkner said every part of her ‘wanted to fall apart’ when it clicked that her estranged husband Ali Elamine (pictured with daughter Lahela) was not returning her kids
In an interview with ABC’s Australian Story, which will be aired on Monday night, Ms Faulkner said Mr Elamine had promised her to return their kids in two weeks.
‘Ali, he said to me “is it possible I take them back to my family to spend some time, just as a holiday?”,’ she said.
‘And so I drove them to the airport, I thought this is great, the kids are going to have the best of both worlds.
‘They’re going to have Lebanon, they’re going to know that culture, I thought we were on the same page, we’re on a good thing, we we’re able to co-parent.
‘I said to him, I said “Ali promise me, look me in the eye and promise me that you will bring them back”… he said “we’ll see you in two weeks.”‘
‘Then he put his arms out and give me a hug and goes “you’re a good mum Sal, you’re a good mum”.’
‘He goes “they’ll be all right with me” and then I said “I trust you”.’
Sally Faulkner (right) is set to appear in a new tell-all special with ABC’s Australian Story about the attempted abduction of her children from estranged husband Ali Elamine (left)
The Brisbane mother has released never-before-seen family photos ahead of the interviews
The couple’s two children, Lahela, five, and Noah, three, are living in Lebanon with their father
After learning that her children were not coming back, she travelled to Beirut with a 60 Minutes crew in April and enlisted the help of child recovery agents.
The abduction was carried out without a hitch, but as Ms Faulkner was hiding out in a safe house in a poor part of Beirut she was found by local police and thrown in jail.
Also imprisoned were 60 Minutes crew Tara Brown, David Ballment, Stephen Rice and Ben Williamson, who spent two weeks in jail.
Ms Faulkner was forced to relinquish all custodial rights to the children in return for unlimited visits and holidays, to ensure her release from jail on bail in Lebanon.
The couple’s two children, Lahela, five, and Noah, three, are currently living in Lebanon.
Australian Story: When Plans Change is a two-part special airing Monday October 17 & 24 at 8pm on ABC & iview.
The botched child abduction was carried out by a 60 Minutes crew including Tara Brown