Grandmother Convicted of Kidnapping Grandson Getting Deported

[hisliltulip]

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans



FOX NEWS



The well-to-do Egyptian grandmother convicted and jailed last year for helping kidnap her grandson from the United States to Cairo will be released from prison and deported to Egypt on Thursday.
 
Afaf Nassar Khalifa, 61, was serving a sentence that had been reduced from 10 years to three for the 2001 abduction of Adam Shannon, now 7 years old. But during her parole hearing last month, the judge reduced the three years to 18 months, saying the crime she'd committed was nonviolent and victimless because it was kidnapping by a relative.

The child's American father, Maryland resident Michael Shannon, had full custody of Adam when Khalifa and her daughter, Shannon's ex-wife Nermeen Shannon, took the boy and his younger brother Jason, now 3, in August 2001.

"I'm not happy with it," Mr. Shannon, 43, said of the decision to release and deport his former mother-in-law. "It's frustrating. I just keep moving forward."

Khalifa is set to go directly from her prison cell in the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women to the airport on Thursday, where she will board a plane to Cairo. Reached by phone, her attorney, William C. Brennan, declined to comment on the latest developments.

At the time of the kidnapping, Mr. Shannon, a computer programmer who lives in Millersville, Md., had custody of Adam, and Mrs. Shannon, 35, had legal custody of Jason. The children, then 5 and 1, were with their mother for a week-long unsupervised stay while their grandmother visited from Egypt, but during the visit, the women flew with the boys from New York to Cairo.

Mrs. Shannon has remained in Egypt since taking the boys, but Khalifa was arrested when she made a return trip to the states after the kidnapping. Court papers show the mother lost custody of both boys during the divorce proceedings because of child abuse charges and allegations of problems with alcohol.

Adam and Jason are still presumably in Egypt, though Mr. Shannon hasn't seen his sons since 2001 and said his ex-wife won't give him any information about them.

"She won't tell me where he is, when he gets out of school," said Mr. Shannon of his older son. "There have been no photos, no phone conversations. ... My attorney in Egypt and the State Department both cannot confirm to me that Adam and Jason are alive."

An English-speaking woman answering the phone at the Khalifa house in Cairo this week said Mrs. Shannon was not at home. Last year, she told The Baltimore Sun that Adam was enrolled in an American school in Cairo and Jason had a private nanny. She said the children were "adapting well," the newspaper reported.

American authorities have a warrant out for Mrs. Shannon's arrest because she is harboring the children overseas in violation of a number of court orders.

Khalifa will also not be able to return to the U.S. without being arrested once she's deported this week.

Mr. Shannon last spoke to Adam just after Khalifa's conviction in January 2003.

"He called saying, 'I hate you. You put Fu-Fu [the Arabic word for Grandmother] in prison,'" he said. "I could hear somebody whispering to him about what to say."

In his fight to get his boys back, Mr. Shannon has hired well-known attorney Jeffery Leving of Chicago, who made headlines when he returned 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez of Cuba to his biological father in 2000.

Leving and another lawyer at his firm, Andrey Filipowicz, are acting as co-counsel with high-profile Cairo attorney Dr. Nabil Hilmy to get the Egyptian courts to honor the U.S. custody agreements.

Leving is frustrated at Khalifa's imminent release from prison and at the fact that the U.S. State Department doesn't seem to be able to get Mr. Shannon's sons back.

"A crime continues to be committed in Egypt until those children are returned," said Leving. "This is deplorable. It's a shame that we won't protect our own citizens and their children."

No Middle Eastern country, including Egypt, has signed the Hague Convention's international abduction treaty — designed to prevent the wrongful kidnapping of a child.

That makes it tricky for the U.S. federal government to get Adam, Jason and the 10,000 other American children who have been victims of international kidnappings back home. There is also no extradition treaty between the United States and Egypt.

Many have blasted the State Department for not doing enough for its citizens — including its littlest ones like Adam and Jason. Not only have the boys not been returned to the parent who has full custody of them, but the State Department hasn't performed the required visits to check on the children because the Khalifa family has refused their requests, according to Leving and Mr. Shannon.

"The victims of crimes have less protection than the perpetrators," Leving said. "He doesn't know whether his children are alive or dead and neither do I. This is unconscionable."

The U.S. embassy also cannot guarantee the safety of either Mr. Shannon or Leving if they were to go to Egypt to check on the situation themselves, according to Leving.

"I was advised not to attend [the custody hearing] because I'm a U.S. citizen and if I do attend, I was told I would likely come back in a body bag," Leving said. "Something doesn't add up here."

Mr. Shannon and others close to the case have said they are convinced that the powerful, well-connected Khalifa family's friends — who include Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak — have been the reason for Mrs. Khalifa's sentence reductions and ticket back home.

The custody hearing in Cairo is set for June 3. Mr. Shannon has also filed a civil suit against the Khalifa family.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120411,00.html

[jilly]

If this had been a non-custodial father who had kidnapped his children and taken them out of their country I bet we'd be reading a totally different story.  Then the government wouldn't be able to do enough to help the poor defensless woman who's children were snatched out of her loving care.

[hisliltulip]

Gee, ya think?

I know.  This one really irks me.  The Father doesn't even know if his kids are ALIVE.

Makes me sick.

[SAURON]

>By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
>
>
>
>FOX NEWS
>
>
>
>The well-to-do Egyptian grandmother convicted and jailed last
>year for helping kidnap her grandson from the United States to
>Cairo will be released from prison and deported to Egypt on
>Thursday.
>
>Afaf Nassar Khalifa, 61, was serving a sentence that had been
>reduced from 10 years to three for the 2001 abduction of Adam
>Shannon, now 7 years old. But during her parole hearing last
>month, the judge reduced the three years to 18 months, saying
>the crime she'd committed was nonviolent and victimless
>because it was kidnapping by a relative.
>
>The child's American father, Maryland resident Michael
>Shannon, had full custody of Adam when Khalifa and her
>daughter, Shannon's ex-wife Nermeen Shannon, took the boy and
>his younger brother Jason, now 3, in August 2001.
>
>"I'm not happy with it," Mr. Shannon, 43, said of the decision
>to release and deport his former mother-in-law. "It's
>frustrating. I just keep moving forward."
>
>Khalifa is set to go directly from her prison cell in the
>Maryland Correctional Institute for Women to the airport on
>Thursday, where she will board a plane to Cairo. Reached by
>phone, her attorney, William C. Brennan, declined to comment
>on the latest developments.
>
>At the time of the kidnapping, Mr. Shannon, a computer
>programmer who lives in Millersville, Md., had custody of
>Adam, and Mrs. Shannon, 35, had legal custody of Jason. The
>children, then 5 and 1, were with their mother for a week-long
>unsupervised stay while their grandmother visited from Egypt,
>but during the visit, the women flew with the boys from New
>York to Cairo.
>
>Mrs. Shannon has remained in Egypt since taking the boys, but
>Khalifa was arrested when she made a return trip to the states
>after the kidnapping. Court papers show the mother lost
>custody of both boys during the divorce proceedings because of
>child abuse charges and allegations of problems with alcohol.
>
>
>Adam and Jason are still presumably in Egypt, though Mr.
>Shannon hasn't seen his sons since 2001 and said his ex-wife
>won't give him any information about them.
>
>"She won't tell me where he is, when he gets out of school,"
>said Mr. Shannon of his older son. "There have been no photos,
>no phone conversations. ... My attorney in Egypt and the State
>Department both cannot confirm to me that Adam and Jason are
>alive."
>
>An English-speaking woman answering the phone at the Khalifa
>house in Cairo this week said Mrs. Shannon was not at home.
>Last year, she told The Baltimore Sun that Adam was enrolled
>in an American school in Cairo and Jason had a private nanny.
>She said the children were "adapting well," the newspaper
>reported.
>
>American authorities have a warrant out for Mrs. Shannon's
>arrest because she is harboring the children overseas in
>violation of a number of court orders.
>
>Khalifa will also not be able to return to the U.S. without
>being arrested once she's deported this week.
>
>Mr. Shannon last spoke to Adam just after Khalifa's conviction
>in January 2003.
>
>"He called saying, 'I hate you. You put Fu-Fu [the Arabic word
>for Grandmother] in prison,'" he said. "I could hear somebody
>whispering to him about what to say."
>
>In his fight to get his boys back, Mr. Shannon has hired
>well-known attorney Jeffery Leving of Chicago, who made
>headlines when he returned 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez of Cuba
>to his biological father in 2000.
>
>Leving and another lawyer at his firm, Andrey Filipowicz, are
>acting as co-counsel with high-profile Cairo attorney Dr.
>Nabil Hilmy to get the Egyptian courts to honor the U.S.
>custody agreements.
>
>Leving is frustrated at Khalifa's imminent release from prison
>and at the fact that the U.S. State Department doesn't seem to
>be able to get Mr. Shannon's sons back.
>
>"A crime continues to be committed in Egypt until those
>children are returned," said Leving. "This is deplorable. It's
>a shame that we won't protect our own citizens and their
>children."
>
>No Middle Eastern country, including Egypt, has signed the
>Hague Convention's international abduction treaty — designed
>to prevent the wrongful kidnapping of a child.
>
>That makes it tricky for the U.S. federal government to get
>Adam, Jason and the 10,000 other American children who have
>been victims of international kidnappings back home. There is
>also no extradition treaty between the United States and
>Egypt.
>
>Many have blasted the State Department for not doing enough
>for its citizens — including its littlest ones like Adam and
>Jason. Not only have the boys not been returned to the parent
>who has full custody of them, but the State Department hasn't
>performed the required visits to check on the children because
>the Khalifa family has refused their requests, according to
>Leving and Mr. Shannon.
>
>"The victims of crimes have less protection than the
>perpetrators," Leving said. "He doesn't know whether his
>children are alive or dead and neither do I. This is
>unconscionable."
>
>The U.S. embassy also cannot guarantee the safety of either
>Mr. Shannon or Leving if they were to go to Egypt to check on
>the situation themselves, according to Leving.
>
>"I was advised not to attend [the custody hearing] because I'm
>a U.S. citizen and if I do attend, I was told I would likely
>come back in a body bag," Leving said. "Something doesn't add
>up here."
>
>Mr. Shannon and others close to the case have said they are
>convinced that the powerful, well-connected Khalifa family's
>friends — who include Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak — have
>been the reason for Mrs. Khalifa's sentence reductions and
>ticket back home.
>
>The custody hearing in Cairo is set for June 3. Mr. Shannon
>has also filed a civil suit against the Khalifa family.
>
>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120411,00.html
>

My sons are US citizens born to US parents, and therefore can live in Egypt for 80 years and never be allowed citizenship there.  Yet the Department of State will not even inquire on there welfare because I was told "it might upset the Egyptians".
Afaf's American attorney was in the Maryland Supreme Court yesterday trying to over-turn her 10 year conviction.  She is quoted in the Baltimore Sun as saying she wants to apply for US citizenship!!!
Below is a quote from one of the sites for parents who lost children Internationally, the gender bias is overwhelming


Our View: Other laws are needed to protect American women from having their children abducted by estranged parents and taken to foreign countries.
May 23, 2004
by Editorial Staff
 
We'll let the judicial system here in Montgomery County sort out the child custody battle concerning a Montgomery County woman and her Syrian ex-husband.
Michelle Madson is fighting her ex-husband's plan to take their daughter to his native country for a visit, fearing he will abduct her and take her away permanently.
That's for a judge to decide. But the fear that underlies the woman's complaint is not without substance, thanks to the experience of hundreds of other American women.
 
Those women have found that the U.S government often either doesn't have the legal tools, or sometimes the political stomach, to force foreign governments to honor the child custody rights of American women seeking to get their children back from an ex-spouse who spirited them away to his home country.
A number of organizations have sprung up to bring light to the issue, including those such as Prevent International Parental Child Adbuction, or PIPCA, and PARENT (Parents Advocating the Recovery through Education and by Networking Together)....

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1569&dept_id=180949&newsid=11774513&PAG=461&rfi=9

[SAURON]

My sons are US citizens born to US parents, and therefore can
live in Egypt for 80 years and never be allowed citizenship
there.  Yet the Department of State will not even inquire on
there welfare because I was told "it might upset the
Egyptians".
Afaf's American attorney was in the Maryland Supreme Court
yesterday trying to over-turn her 10 year conviction.  She is
quoted in the Baltimore Sun as saying she wants to apply for
US citizenship!!!
Below is a quote from one of the sites for parents who lost
children Internationally, the gender bias is overwhelming


Our View: Other laws are needed to protect American women
from having their children abducted by estranged parents and
taken to foreign countries.
May 23, 2004
by Editorial Staff
 
We'll let the judicial system here in Montgomery County sort
out the child custody battle concerning a Montgomery County
woman and her Syrian ex-husband.
Michelle Madson is fighting her ex-husband's plan to take
their daughter to his native country for a visit, fearing he
will abduct her and take her away permanently.
That's for a judge to decide. But the fear that underlies the
woman's complaint is not without substance, thanks to the
experience of hundreds of other American women.
 
Those women have found that the U.S government often either
doesn't have the legal tools, or sometimes the political
stomach, to force foreign governments to honor the child
custody rights of American women seeking to get their
children back from an ex-spouse who spirited them away to his
home country.
A number of organizations have sprung up to bring light to
the issue, including those such as Prevent International
Parental Child Adbuction, or PIPCA, and PARENT (Parents
Advocating the Recovery through Education and by Networking
Together)....

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1569&dept_id=180949&newsid=11774513&PAG=461&rfi=9

Michael E. Shannon

[StPaulieGirl]

The Vatican recently issued a warning about marrying a Muslim if you are Catholic....for that matter any Christian religion.  

I have one little question, however.  Was this woman an observant Muslim?  They don't consume alcohol.  They have however, been trained to beat the bejeezus out of their kids.

His kids are just fine because they are males.  I hope that the father can get them the hell out of there before they grow up to be jihadi...

[SAURON]

The mother was born in Chicago.  She has Egyptian citizenship because her father was born in Cairo.  Ironically, my sons could live in Egypt for 100 years and never be citizens.  You father must be born there for a male to have any Egyptian rights or citizenship.
The mother was a hard-core smoking, fighting, cursing alcoholic.  She said she would die before even visiting Egypt...hated the culture and her family.  I guess several million dollars changed her mind.

[StPaulieGirl]

Wow, no kidding?  I'm used to seeing images of beaten down, subservient chattel wrapped in burkhas.  

I didn't know about the citizenship requirements for Egypt, but you can be sure that she isn't smoking, cussing, fighting or drinking over there.  If you are Muslim, you cannot escape your family.  I've heard tales of women being kidnapped and sent back.  I've also read accounts where women escape, only to be tracked down by their own relatives and slaughtered.

Is this woman still alive?  By your description, she's commited several "honor crimes".  If she's been killed, that man will probably never hear from his kids again.

[SAURON]

I am 'that man'.
She was taken back to Egypt when she was 13 and her family returned there.  From letters her sisters wrote, she 'Escaped' at age 19 through Austria back to the U.S. and never went back to Egypt.
I met her when she was 26 and we married and had Adam and Jason.
Evenetually the State Family Law Division and the Dept of Social Services forced me to remove her and take custody of the older boy.
Our final divorce was scheduled on 09/11/01.  Her mother took her and the boys to Egypt 2 weeks before the attacks.
One email from a sister reminds her there is not much time for them to get out of America.  I do not know if Dahlia meant the divorce, or the 09/11 attacks...

[StPaulieGirl]

Just damn.  I didn't know it was your personal experience.   I am truly sorry about your situation.

9/11...I'm starting to wonder how many people actually knew we were going to get hit???  Al Gore and Bill Clinton were out of the country at the time.

The Middle East is full of the most corrupt, two faced bastards.  You need mercenaries.  They can't bs a sword or a machine gun when a disinterested party is holding it over their heads.  Good luck to you, and let us know how things are going.