Fox - Maryland Father Still Hopeful He'll See His Kidnapped Sons Again

From my archive of press clippings:

FoxNews.Com

Maryland Father Still Hopeful He'll See His Kidnapped Sons Again

Monday, June 16, 2008

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans

This weekend marks the seventh Father's Day since the last time Michael Shannon saw his sons Adam and Jason, let alone celebrated with them.

The boys, now 11 and 7, were kidnapped in August 2001 by their mother and Egyptian grandmother, who fled to Cairo after what was supposed to be a brief unsupervised visit.

They've remained there ever since, despite substantial U.S. criminal and civil court victories for Shannon, who has full custody of both children.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Shannon's lawyer, Stephen Cullen, is trying to arrange a meeting for father and sons in Cyprus, which is both Muslim and Christian and has signed the Hague Convention treaty designed to prevent the wrongful abduction of children."

"Part of the problem is that no Muslim country, including Egypt, recognizes the Hague treaty.

And Egypt has not honored any of the court decisions handed down in the Shannon case in the United States.

In April, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a decision by a trial judge and jury to make interference with custody and visitation, including child abduction, a civil offense in addition to a criminal offense.

Previously, it only fell into the criminal category."

&

"Shannon was awarded $3 million in damages to be paid by his ex-wife, Nermeen Khalifa, 39, and the children's maternal grandmother, Afaf Khalifa, 65."