Nine Network has launched a review into the botched 60 Minutes Lebanon story that resulted in four of its staff being jailed for a fortnight on kidnapping charges.
Chief executive Hugh Marks told staff it was an "enormous relief" to have reporter Tara Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment on their way home after charges against them were dropped overnight.
But the crew and Nine should have never become "part of the story", Mr Marks said in an email obtained by AAP.
The 60 Minutes crew spent 14 days behind bars after they were arrested filming mother Sally Faulkner's attempt with a child recovery team to snatch her two children with estranged husband Ali Elamine off a busy Beirut street and take them to back to Brisbane.
Sally Faulkner smile after she got released on bail Source: AAP
"At no stage did anyone from Nine or 60 Minutes intend to act in any way that made them susceptible to charges that they breached the law or to become part of the story that is Sally's story," Mr Marks said.
"But we did become part of the story and we shouldn't have."
Former 60 Minutes executive producer Gerald Stone will head the review, alongside Nine executive David Hurley and the broadcaster's in-house general counsel Rachel Launders.
The internal inquiry will "ascertain what went wrong and why our systems, designed to protect staff, failed to do so in this case".
Since the crew and Ms Faulkner were arrested on April 7, Nine has been accused of violating ethical and legal codes, fielding unconfirmed speculation the station funded the kidnapping carried out by a professional child recovery agency.
Nine has declined to comment on reports it hired and paid professional kidnappers on Ms Faulkner's behalf, or paid Mr Elamine compensation as part of the release deal brokered on Wednesday.
But in his email, Mr Marks reiterated no one from Nine had acted with the intention of falling foul of Lebanese law.
He praised the 60 Minutes crew and their families and thanked them for "the trust they placed in us to resolve events".
"This has been an extraordinarily stressful time for the crew and for their families," Mr Marks said.
"I want to very publicly acknowledge how much they have been through and thank them for their courage."
He also thanked the federal government, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and consular officials in Lebanon for "working around the clock" to secure the TV crew's release.
No recourse under the Hague Convention
Intervening in situations that involve children in Lebanon can be difficult, since Lebanon has not signed the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Under the Hague Convention, people who believe their children have been wrongfully removed from Australia or retained overseas may apply to have their children returned.
Australia and Lebanon do have a bilateral agreement that allows authorities to assist parents in resolving such disputes. It does not allow parents to apply to have their children, who they believe were wrongfully removed, to be returned to them.
Australia is party to the Hague child abduction convention, along with 83 countries worldwide.
