NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

60 Minutes saga: Nine Network says it will not help members of CARI facing charges in Lebanon

By Charis Chang of news.com.au
news.com.au·
21 Apr, 2016 05:11 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Craig Michael and Adam Whittington (R) in a still from the ITV documentary Abducted. The pair remain in jail in Beirut over a bungled child snatch involving 60 Minutes has blamed rivals for tipping of

Craig Michael and Adam Whittington (R) in a still from the ITV documentary Abducted. The pair remain in jail in Beirut over a bungled child snatch involving 60 Minutes has blamed rivals for tipping of

The Nine Network says it feels no obligation to help members of a child recovery group left in jail after a botched kidnapping in Lebanon.

The network has been criticised for securing the release of its 60 Minutes crew and the mother of two children snatched in a Beirut street, but leaving members of the Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) to the mercy of the Lebanese court system.

A spokeswoman for Nine confirmed to news.com.au that some compensation was paid to the father Ali Elamine to help secure their release but would not comment on how much money changed hands.

Father Ali Elamine leaveing court on April 18. Photo / Getty Images
Father Ali Elamine leaveing court on April 18. Photo / Getty Images

"There was compensation as announced by the judge, we are not discussing details," the spokeswoman said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But when asked why Nine had not included the four members of CARI in the deal, she said: "They are not part of our team, they have their own legal advice and process to go through, we were journalists covering a story of an Australian mother trying to be reunited with her children."

When asked about suggestions Nine had abandoned the group, she said: "We had no contractual relationship with them in the first place and still have no obligations to them".

Responses to further questions were even more blunt.

Asked if Nine would be doing anything to assist the group, she said: "no".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And when asked whether Nine felt any obligation to the group and ensuring their release, there was another: "no".

The lawyer for the two men who led the kidnapping attempt, CARI's British-Australian boss Adam Whittington and British national Craig Michael, has already slammed Nine for abandoning the men.

"Ethically it wasn't appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange for a deal and not include the man they asked to execute for them something," Joe Karam told reporters outside the Palace of Justice.

The two men remain in jail over their role in the kidnapping attempt, and the fate of two Lebanese also charged over the operation remains unclear.

Discover more

World

Tara Brown led away from court in cuffs

18 Apr 09:23 PM
World

60 Minutes a wake-up call, says radio DJ

19 Apr 05:00 PM
World

60 Minutes reporter: 'We were laughing'

19 Apr 08:11 PM
World

How 60 Mins father knew of every move

20 Apr 02:44 AM

Former Labor leader Mark Latham said Nine should help the child recovery group.

"(If Nine) had any decency in the circumstances, having paid the so-called child recovery crew, they would have some regard for their interests instead of leaving them behind in the jail cell," Mr Latham told rival Seven breakfast show Sunrise.

But sympathy for the group could be limited.

Lawyer Ghassan Moghabghab told Channel Seven his client, mother Sally Faulkner, does not hold the Nine Network or the 60 Minutes crew responsible.

Sally Faulkner of Australia with her children Lahela aged 6 years (centre) and Noah aged 4 years.
Sally Faulkner of Australia with her children Lahela aged 6 years (centre) and Noah aged 4 years.

"They helped her in a way or another to pay the company who issue the action in Beirut," he said. "They wanted to get the scoop and they paid everything to help Sally try to reach her children."

But he added: "If she wants to blame somebody, I think she should blame the company that made up the job. It was an unprofessional job."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Lawyer Wafa Hoballah of WJH Law Group has dealt with the legal system in Lebanon, and said the men were being treated differently to the mother and television crew.

"But they committed more of a crime than others, yes the crew were shooting but these were the ones who actually did the kidnapping. They pushed the grandmother and grabbed the children," the US based lawyer told news.com.au.

However, she said the lawyer representing the men was well-known in the country and it was likely an agreement would be reached with political support from government representatives.

She said there was no way the first agreement between 60 Minutes, the mother and father would have been reached so quickly otherwise.

"So I think there will be a settlement, but probably it won't be as quick as they hoped," she said.

As to whether Nine should help the group, Ms Hoballah said any arrangement between them was simply a business deal.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I see it as a business deal so if the business deal says they are not responsible (if something goes wrong) then they are not responsible," she said.

"I think it's a good strategy for Channel Nine to distance themselves from the group's actions,

particularly because they pushed the grandmother.

"Sure they were paid (for the kidnapping) but no force had to be used, there was no reason to do that."

Others have also been critical of the kidnapping.

Rival agency Child Rescue Australia described the attempted abduction as dangerous and amateurish.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Earlier this month, the men seized two children from a Beirut street as they were walking with their Lebanese grandmother.

They were taken to a safe house south of Beirut but were soon arrested along with the 60 Minutes crew who were filming the operation.

"Do they think they are the SAS taking Bin Laden off the street? It was bizarre," Col Chapman previously told news.com.au, referring to the failed sting by his main rival.

He said the TV crew were lucky not to be shot given "guns are everywhere" in Lebanon.

"Doing it in a busy street, underneath CCTV cameras ... I don't know if you saw the footage but that's horrific what the kids were exposed to," Mr Chapman told ABC radio.

"They were spear-tackled almost into the back of the car. I'm very critical of it, as you can guess. (It was) very amateurish, very dangerous."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew were released from jail Wednesday afternoon (local time) after father Ali Elamine agreed to drop his personal charges against them.

The 60 Minutes crew - journalist Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment - flew out of Lebanon early on Thursday (AEST).

Ms Faulkner remains in Beirut for another day to visit the courtroom to see her children, Lahela, 5, and Noah, 3, and sort out custody arrangements.

- With AAP

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

How a heroic camp director risked it all to save campers in Texas flood

07 Jul 12:11 AM
World

Blair's think-tank worked on ‘Trump Riviera’ plan for Gaza

06 Jul 11:56 PM
Premium
World

Lost wedding ring found 15 years later at Christmas tree farm

06 Jul 11:43 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

How a heroic camp director risked it all to save campers in Texas flood

How a heroic camp director risked it all to save campers in Texas flood

07 Jul 12:11 AM

Camp directors Dick Eastland and Jane Ragsdale died trying to save others.

Blair's think-tank worked on ‘Trump Riviera’ plan for Gaza

Blair's think-tank worked on ‘Trump Riviera’ plan for Gaza

06 Jul 11:56 PM
Premium
Lost wedding ring found 15 years later at Christmas tree farm

Lost wedding ring found 15 years later at Christmas tree farm

06 Jul 11:43 PM
Citizen scientists pinpoint 10,000 eclipsing star pairs

Citizen scientists pinpoint 10,000 eclipsing star pairs

06 Jul 10:59 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP