Adam Whittington, an Australian jailed in Lebanon over the botched 60 Minutes child recovery attempt, hopes he will be freed within weeks despite being denied bail again.
Whittington and three other men have spent more than 40 days behind bars after being arrested in April over the failed attempt to snatch the two young children of Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner from a Beirut street.
A judge refused their latest bail application late on Wednesday (AEST), but lawyers for the men are appealing the decision.
Supporters of Whittington are hopeful: "Adam has spoken to several people today. He is well and he is understandably disappointed at the outcome of the bail decision today, but he remains confident that he will be released on bail soon," a statement from Whittington's support group Bring Skippy Home says.
Along with his colleague Craig Michael and two Lebanese men, Khaled Barbour and Mohammed Hamza, Whittington was left out of a deal worth a reported $US500,000 ($A691,400) that resulted in the release on bail of Ms Faulkner and a 60 Minutes team that was in Lebanon to film the recovery.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The Nine Network reportedly paid Ms Faulkner's former husband, Lebanese businessman Ali Elamine, to help secure their release on bail.
Nine's decision to abandon the men they hired to snatch Lahela, five, and Noah, three, as they were walking with their Lebanese grandmother has drawn sustained criticism from Whittington's family and his lawyer.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called for a government briefing on Whittington's case after bumping into Whittington's father, David, while campaigning in Campbelltown, in Sydney's south west.
Mr Shorten told WSFM Radio on Thursday he would ask the government what it was doing about the matter.
Whittington's mother Georgina has also taken to the airwaves, telling TripleM in Brisbane her son had "rats crawling all over him" and hadn't showered in six weeks.
Last night David Whittington described his devastation at hearing the judge's decision.
"We'd got our confidence very high and he was very confident himself that he would get bail but unfortunately there's a stumbling block every time," Mr Whittington told Sky News.
He said his son would have been out weeks ago if they had enough money to pay Mr Elamine.
"He's digging his heels in because Channel Nine set the precedent of $US500,000."
Whittington's lawyer Joe Karam expects the appeal process could take between 48 hours and 10 days.
