60 Minutes kidnap case: Adam Whittington to learn fate in Lebanon, mum slams Nine

AS the Australian at the heart of the 60 Minutes child abduction saga waits to learn his fate in Lebanon today, his mum has lashed out at “disgusting” Nine.

IF former Australian soldier Adam Whittington is bailed in Beirut today it will be no thanks to the Nine network, his Gold Coast mother says.

A judge is due to rule late today whether to release Whittington, his colleague Craig Michael and two Lebanese men left behind when Nine paid to free its 60 Minutes team including reporter Tara Brown.

Mum Georgina Whittington last night said she had heard “nothing from no one” and Nine had still not offered support to her son despite public outrage over the network’s “cut and run” deal.

“It’s disgusting. They haven’t even contacted (his wife) Karin,” she told News Corp.

Adam Whittington, of Child Abduction Recovery International, will soon learn his fate. Picture: YouTube

Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment were released on bail last month after Nine paid dad Ali Elamine at least $500,000 in compensation for the botched snatch of his two children from a Beirut street.

Whittington, from Child Abduction Recovery International, was not included in the deal despite being hired by Nine for the story.

Elamine also forced his estranged wife, Brisbane mum Sally Faulkner, to give up custody rights to secure her own release from prison, but in an open online letter this week she said she would continue to fight for her children’s return.

“As a mother I’d do anything for my children — anything. Well that’s what I plan to do,” she wrote on website Mamamia.

“My fight will carry on long after the media coverage is gone and I guarantee you one thing. I will bring my children home and they will know that both mummy and daddy love them, because both parents are important.”

Journalist Tara Brown and mum Sally Faulkner sit in a mini van between the three Channel 9 crew members after they were released from the Lebanese jail. Picture: Hussein Malla/AP

The 60 Minutes team left Beirut on the first flight out of town after being bailed but could still be prosecuted for offences including kidnap and criminal conspiracy which carry maximum 20-year prison sentences.

Judge Rami Abdullah has been finalising his investigations into the case, with prosecutors due to announce within weeks what charges are to be pursued against all involved.