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Charges may be dropped against group involved in Beirut child recovery operation

There has been fresh hope for the child recovery group facing kidnapping charges in Beirut, as negotiations for their release continue.
Lawyer Joe Karam said he is negotiating for all charges against British-Australian Adam Whittington and British national Craig Michael to be potentially dropped.
Mr Whittington and Mr Michael are members of the Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), who led an attempted child recovery operation in Beirut earlier this month for Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner.
“Adam should be released. He's not a danger to society,” Mr Karam said.
“He's not someone who will affect the people around him. He's a peaceful man.”
The news comes after reporter Tara Brown and the 60 Minutes crew touched down in Australia, following two weeks in custody in Lebanon.
The veteran reporter arrived at Sydney Airport alongside producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment on a flight from Dubai last night, following their release from a Beirut prison.
“It’s just so good to be home, that’s all,” Brown told 9NEWS after alighting from the plane.
Mr Ballment said being home was “the best feeling in the world”.
Happy to be home: Brown and 60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice. (AAP)
Happy to be home: Brown and 60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice. (AAP)
When asked what he was looking forward to most about arriving home he said: “seeing Laura, my wife”.
“And having a very, very, very long shower,” he added with a laugh.
In Beirut, Ms Faulkner was given a final chance to visit with her two children before returning home to Australia.
She visited the children along with her estranged partner Ali Elamine.
“The visit was good,” Mr Elamine told 9NEWS.
“‘Sal’ had fun, the kids had fun.
“She’s their mother and obviously they’re going to enjoy time with her.
“We were just at a play centre and had ice cream and enjoyed it.”
On Wednesday night Mr Elamine told a judge he wanted the charges against the 60 Minutes crew dropped.
He said he believed the news team was "just doing their job".
The decision by Mr Elamine breaks a deadlock in the case since Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team were arrested earlier this month and faced charges of kidnapping, physical assault, hiding information and criminal conspiracy.
Ms Faulkner claimed Mr Elamine did not return the children as agreed after taking them on a holiday to Lebanon last year.
Earlier, Ms Faulkner sent an emotional message to her two young children, Lahela, six, and Noah, four, following her release from the Lebanese jail.
Ms Faulkner apologised to her children, saying she “tried” and hoped to “see them again one day in Australia”.
The crew touched down just before 10pm. (AAP)
The crew touched down just before 10pm. (AAP)
“I love them and mummy is sorry that it all worked out this way. I tried. I hope I can see them again one day in Australia, I really do,” Ms Faulkner told 9NEWS.
The 60 Minutes crew members seemed shocked by their sudden release from prison in Lebanon when they spoke to 9NEWS on their way to the Beirut airport.
“Half an hour ago we were sitting in a very, very small cell, this has just come completely out of the blue,” Rice said.
Ballment said the group were all “hoping for the best but prepared for the worst” before their sudden release.
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