A mother who fears her young son could die in the expected Israeli bombing of Lebanon has desperately appealed to Sir Keir Starmer to help save him.
Catherine Flanagan’s son David was taken to Beirut by his father and ex-husband Mustapha Nahle in 2022, and he refused to return him despite a High Court order in July last year.
In June, anesthetist Nahle, 37, was sentenced to six months in prison in absentia for non-compliance.
Fighting back tears, Flanagan, 39, from Belfast, who has joint British and Irish citizenship, urged the prime ministers of both countries to intervene so that David, who will turn three in eight days, can be taken out of the country sooner. of its broadcast. The Israelis close the space tonight.
She said: ‘I’m absolutely terrified for David. It would be pretty bad if Mustapha tried to date David but he doesn’t and that scares me more. I am worried that I may die or be injured.
Catherine Flanagan, pictured with her son David Nahle, has urged the UK and Irish governments to intervene to bring her son home from Lebanon.
Smoke rises over Beirut’s southern suburbs during the Israeli attack on September 27.
‘I need Sir Keir Starmer and the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, to tell the Lebanese that David is leaving and leaving now. It must be done before the airspace is closed.
“The Foreign Office has been involved in this case for the last two years, but I feel like nothing is happening.”
Asked if she is worried about never seeing her son again, an emotional Mrs Flanagan said: “Of course, of course.”
He added: “I feel completely helpless. I feel let down by the Prime Minister, the Taoiseach and the Foreign Office.
“I feel like David’s father, who loves him, is not putting David’s best interests first.”
Flanagan, a charity worker, said she understands David is being cared for by his paternal grandmother, Fatima, while Nahle goes to work as chair of the anesthesia department at Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Beirut’s largest medical center.
He said Nahle is known to Iranian-backed Hezbollah authorities in Beirut because of his high position.
The last time she saw her son was when she went to visit in January, a trip she made because “they expressly told me that if I went they would let me take David home,” which was not the case.
Flanagan married Nahle, who he fell in love with like a “sweet geek”, in April 2021 and David was born on October 10 of that year, but the relationship quickly fell apart.
The Home Office rejected Nahle’s visa application to remain in Britain and he left, taking David with him, in August 2022.
David was brought to Beirut by his father and ex-husband Mustapha Nahle in 2022.
People and rescuers gather near the rubble of a building destroyed in the Israeli airstrike
Smoke rises over buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 27 after an airstrike.
Flanagan said all he wants is his son back, adding that he has told the court he will allow Nahle to visit him whenever he wants.
The mother, who obtained custody orders through the High Court in Belfast, revealed that her distress developed even before the prospect of an Israeli invasion, as repeated airstrikes had been carried out in Beirut in recent weeks.
She said: “Every time I see that there has been an airstrike, I am checking exactly where it is in relation to the different places where I know they could have David.”
Tracked down by the BBC in Beirut in recent weeks, Nahle, whose hospital is funded by the UN body the World Health Organisation, said he had been granted custody of David by a Lebanese court and would not return him.
He said: ‘I am Lebanese, I live in Lebanon, I obey Lebanese laws. That’s all. I feel like David is safe and I have some safety measures.
‘In the world, in our lives, we do not have one hundred percent security, in the United Kingdom they do not; In Belfast there are riots and also race riots.
An FCDO spokesperson said this afternoon: “We have provided consular assistance to a British woman who was in Lebanon and had been in contact with local authorities.”
The Foreign Ministry said it recommended the use of a local lawyer in Lebanon and that its guidelines state that it cannot be involved in attempts to return a child, even if a court orders it.
Miceál O’Hurley, a mediator working on Flanagan’s behalf, said: “Given the intractability of governments in dealing with these disputes, I want Mustapha to know he has a way out.”
‘I met him (Nahle) in Beirut in August and organized an evacuation flight for David in case we had a breakthrough, but the (last) British humanitarian flight left today.
“I remain willing to work with all parties if another opportunity arises to bring David to safety.”
Ms Flanagan is raising funds through GoFundMe for legal costs in Lebanon to help secure David’s return.
