BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities have detained four Australians, including journalists, on suspicion they were involved in the abductions of two children in Beirut, police officials and Australian media said Thursday.
The officials added that a British citizen has been detained as well on suspicion that he planned to smuggle the children out of Lebanon on his boat. Police officials said the detainees are being questioned over the kidnapping of Noah and Lahela al-Amin. They are the son and daughter of a Lebanese man and an Australian woman who have been living in Beirut since their father Ali al-Amin brought them from Australia late last year, the officials said.
Police said Wednesday’s kidnapping, in which the children were taken after an attack on their Lebanese grandmother as she took them to school near their home in Beirut, was part of a family dispute. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil was quoted by local media as saying that the children and their mother are currently at the Australian embassy in Beirut. Security officials also confirmed the mother and her children are at the embassy.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, did not give the names of the Australians and the Briton. The Australian detainees include journalists working for Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes, who were filming an episode on the issue in Lebanon. Among the detainees is TV presenter Tara Brown.
60 Minutes reporter Michael Usher told Nine News in an interview broadcast on Thursday evening that the Australian consulate in Beirut is in contact with the 60 Minutes crew. He added that “our obvious concern is that we have not been able to speak to the crew for going on 15 hours now and that’s obviously been very concerning for all of us here.”
Usher added that the journalists that were detained in Beirut are very experienced and prepared for the difficulties of covering what he called, “a risky operation, a risky story — this desperate Australian mum trying to get her two Australian children home.”
In Beirut, the five are being held at a police station near the place where the boat was parked, a police official said. He added that the journalists said during their questioning that they were coming on a humanitarian mission and their aim was not to kidnap the children.
Channel Nine issued a statement earlier Thursday saying that: “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.”
A Channel Nine employee told The Associated Press in Australia that the 60 Minutes crew was not physically present when the children’s kidnapping took place. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said her ministry has been in contact with Channel Nine regarding the reports. She added in a statement that, “We are urgently seeking to confirm the crew’s whereabouts and welfare, and have offered all appropriate consular assistance.”