A n Australian mother who was detained in Lebanon along with 60 Minutes presenter Tara Brown and a Channel Nine crew after a botched “child retrieval” in 2016 has had her children returned to her after winning temporary custody in a US court.

Sally Faulkner returned to Queensland in January this year with her daughter and son nearly a decade after she last saw the children in person, the Guardian can reveal.

She won custody from her former partner, Ali Elamine, after he and the children fled Lebanon for the US state of Georgia during last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, US court documents released to the Guardian show.

Sign up: AU Breaking News email

Faulkner flew to Georgia to see the children last November, arranging with Elamine to meet them a few days after they arrived

See Full Page