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Jailed 60 Minutes 'fixer' granted bail

Dual Australian-British national Adam Whittington has been granted bail from a Lebanese jail following the botched 60 minutes Beirut abduction.

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David Whittington, father of Adam Whittington, at a rally against the detention of his son outside Channel 9 headquarters in Sydney.(AAP Image/David Moir) Source: AAP

The alleged organiser of the botched 60 Minutes Beirut child abduction plans to return to Australia within weeks after being granted bail by a Lebanese court.

Adam Whittington will fly to Sweden to be with his family before returning to Australia after spending 100 days in a Lebanon jail on kidnapping charges.

The dual Australian-British national's mother Georgina said she cried when she received the call that her son had been granted bail.

"It still hasn't (sunk in). It's amazing - so good, really, really good," she told ABC radio on Friday.

"I just missed hearing his voice. It's so good he's going to go home to (his wife) Karin and the boys."

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Mr Whittington and two of his colleagues were charged with kidnapping after Lahela, 5, and Noah, 3 - the children of Sally Faulkner of Brisbane - were taken from a Beirut street in April while being filmed by a Nine Network 60 Minutes crew.

Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew were also jailed after the botched operation, but were able to return to Australia after Nine reached a plea bargain to secure the release of its staff.

Ms Faulkner has previously said she took action to get her children back after her estranged husband Ali Elamine took them to Lebanon on a holiday in May 2015 and never came back.

On Friday, a Nine spokeswoman told AAP: "We are pleased the bail has been granted and we're awaiting further details on the conditions around that bail."

Susan Brown, who heads a support group for Mr Whittington, said his family and friends were ecstatic about the decision and were hoping for his "swift exit" from Lebanon once paperwork was finalised.

"We are absolutely on cloud nine right now, the campaign is far from over but we'll have our master at the helm now," Ms Brown told AAP.

Ms Brown said a recent letter she had received from the former soldier showed he was beginning to struggle after months in prison.

"You could see he was beginning to swing, a bit like a pendulum - up and down - and it was quite sad to read that letter because his letters are usually so positive," she said.

It's understood a kidnapping conviction carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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