Mum ‘received’t cease preventing’ for son snatched and brought to Saudi Arabia
Mother, Ranem Elkhalidi pleas for son’s return (Image: Handout by way of MP)
The mom of a seven-year-old boy kidnapped by his father and brought to Saudi Arabia has made an impassioned plea for his return on the day she met with Foreign Office officers to focus on the case.
Ranem Elkhalidi has not seen teenager Ibrahim Faraj since November after his father, Hamzah Faraj, 33, flew with him to the Middle East – regardless of being banned from taking the boy out of the UK.
Ever since then, Ms Elkhalidi has labored ceaselessly to attract consideration to the case, and has now enlisted the assistance of her MP, Mike Amesbury, who in flip brokered a gathering with high-ranking diplomats after urgent Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in regards to the matter within the House of Commons.
The 25-year-old married Mr Faraj when she was 16 and he was 24, with the couple shifting to England 9 years in the past.
The marriage hit the rocks, they usually break up up for good in June 2021, with custody proceedings getting underway in 2022.
Ibrahim Faraj is lacking (Image: Handout by way of MP)
Ms Elkhalidi, who’s a Palestinian asylum seeker, subsequently obtained an order from Liverpool Family Court stopping Mr Faraj from taking Ibrahim overseas – however simply 9 days later, he was snatched from his faculty in Frodsham, Cheshire, taken to Manchester Airport and from there on to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
She solely found he was lacking on November 14, after his faculty instructed her he had not been attending classes.
Ms Elkhalidi, who has not spoken to Ibrahim since he was taken, instructed Express.co.uk: “The last few months have been a living nightmare.
“Since Ibrahim has been gone, everything in my life has been turned upside down.
“I’m exhausted, but I don’t want to stop and I am not going to stop, I am going to keep fighting to bring him home.
Mother hasn’t spoken to son since he was taken (Image: Handout via MP)
“Imagine not having your mum and imagine how he is going to be feeling after seven months not being able to go and see his friends like he used to every single day? They all miss him and ask about him too.”
Speaking about her little boy, an enormous fan of Liverpool FC, she continued: “Ibrahim was born in Manchester, he went to nursery in Manchester and Warrington and he went to school in Warrington as well. He’s a normal, chatty little boy who loves football.
“He needs to be with me. There is no one to speak the same language as him there and he is far from his mum. It’s not fair for me as a mum and it’s not fair for him either.”
Mr Amesbury, Weaver Vale MP, added: “I raised it on the floor of the house with the Secretary of State, James Cleverly, who helpfully facilitated this meeting.
“It was very important to get Ranem an audience with those departmental officials to tell it like it is as a mum.
Secretary of State, James Cleverly (Image: Getty)
“Ibrahim is as Mancunian as me. In fact, he was born in the same hospital as my son, Manchester Royal Infirmary. He’s as English and British as me and my son and we just want him back home with his mum, and his friends as well.
“At his school, in my local community of course, he is missed.”
He stated of Ibrahim: “He was abducted, not to be seen again. He doesn’t speak any other language other than English and so essentially he is in a foreign country, with no ties other than his father.
“Ibrahim needs to be with his mum. She’s absolutely distraught and devastated. As a parent, I just find it unimaginable. If this happened to my son, I would do everything possible to get him back.
“And certainly as the constituency MP, I am applying that zeal really just to try and do everything possible to reunite Ranem and Ibrahim.”
A press release issued by Cheshire Constabulary in June confirmed Mr Faraj was now needed for baby abduction after being notified on November 14 – the day Ibrahim went lacking.
The assertion added: “Following the reports officers have been engaging closely with both parents, but despite their best efforts he has not yet been returned to the UK.
“Therefore, the daddy of the kid has now been circulated as needed for baby abduction on the nationwide police database.
“All the appropriate authorities have been made aware and officers are continuing to do all they can to return the child to the UK.”