A mother who fears her toddler son could be killed in the expected Israeli bombardment of Lebanon has made a desperate plea to Sir Keir Starmer for help to save him.
Catherine Flanagan’s son David was taken to Beirut by his father and her ex-husband Mustapha Nahle in 2022 – and he has refused to return him despite a High Court order made in July last year.
In June, a six-month prison sentence was issued against consultant anaesthetist Nahle, 37, in his absence for failing to comply.
Holding back tears, Ms Flanagan, 39, from Belfast, who has joint British and Irish citizenship, urged both countries’ Prime Ministers to intervene so David – who turns three in eight days’ time – can be taken out of the country before its air space is closed by the Israelis tonight.
She said: ‘I’m absolutely terrified for David. It would be bad enough if Mustapha was trying to get out with David but he isn’t and that scares me more. I’m worried he could be killed or 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 above Beirut’s southern suburbs during the Israeli strike on September 27
‘I need Sir Keir Starmer and the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, to tell the Lebanese that David leaves and leaves now. It needs to be done before the airspace is closed.
‘The Foreign Office have been involved in this case for the last two years but I feel nothing is being happening.’
Asked if she is worried she may never see her son again, an emotional Ms Flanagan said: ‘Of course, of course.’
She added: ‘I feel utterly helpless. I feel let down by the Prime Minister, the Taoiseach and the Foreign Office.
‘I feel David’s father, who does love him, is not putting David’s best interests first.’
Ms Flanagan, a charity worker, said she understands David is being looked after by his paternal grandmother Fatima while Nahle goes to work as chairman of the anaesthesia department at Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the largest medical facility in Beirut.
She said Nahle is known to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah authorities in Beirut due to his senior position.
She last saw her son when she went to visit in January – a trip she made because ‘I was expressly told that if I came, he would let me take David home’, which was not the case.
Ms Flanagan married Nahle, who she fell for as a ‘sweet geek’, in April 2021 and David was born on October 10 that year – but the relationship quickly fell apart.
The Home Office rejected a visa application by Nahle to remain in Britain and he left, taking David with him, in August 2022.
David was taken to Beirut by his father and her ex-husband Mustapha Nahle in 2022
People and rescuers gather near the rubble of a building destroyed in the Israeli air strike
Smoke rises above buildings in Beirut, Lebanon on September 27 after an airstrike
Ms Flanagan said that all she wants is for her son to be returned, adding that she has told the court she will allow Nahle to visit him whenever he wants.
The mother, who obtained custody orders through the High Court in Belfast, revealed her angst developed even before the prospect of an Israeli invasion, as repeated airstrikes have been carried out on Beirut in recent weeks.
She said: ‘Every time I see there’s been an airstrike, I’m checking exactly where that is in relation to the different places where I know they might have David.’
Tracked down by the BBC in Beirut in recent weeks, Nahle – whose hospital is funded by UN body the World Health Organisation – said he had been granted custody of David by a Lebanese court and would not be returning him.
He said: ‘I am Lebanese, I live in Lebanon, I obey Lebanese laws. That’s it. I feel David is safe and I have some safety measures.
‘The world, in our lives, we don’t have hundred per cent safety, in the UK they don’t have it; in Belfast they have riots, they have racial riots, too.’
An FCDO spokesperson said this afternoon: ‘We have provided consular assistance to a British woman who was in Lebanon and been in contact with local authorities.’
The Foreign Office said it has recommended use of a local lawyer in Lebanon and that its guidance states it cannot get involved in attempts to return a child even if a court orders it.
Miceál O’Hurley, a mediator working on Ms Flanagan’s behalf, said: ‘Given the intractability of governments in dealing with these disputes, I want Mustapha to know he has an off ramp.
‘I met him (Nahle) in Beirut in August and arranged for an evacuation flight for David in case we had a breakthrough – but the (last) British humanitarian flight departed today.
‘I remain ready to work with all parties if another opportunity arises to put David out of harm’s way.’
Ms Flanagan is fundraising via GoFundMe for legal costs in Lebanon to help secure David’s return.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
