British mother pleads for custody of her son in Qatari court

Manama: A Bahrain-based British mother who says that she had been duped into signing papers that allowed the Qatari family of her 10-year-old son to file for his custody has appealed to the British government, the Bahraini royal family and the Qatari Amir to help them reunite.

"We are appealing to all three governments to help our case because we have no one else to turn to," Rebecca Jones said. "Adam is a child who has been taken away from his caring and loving family and I will not rest until I get him back. We plead with them (the three governments) to intervene in our case to ensure that justice is prevailed and my child is back in my arms.

"I appeal to them as a mother to assist us in our struggle to get Adam back and to ensure a fair trial is served. All I want is for Adam to be reunited with his family where he belongs," the mother was quoted as saying by the Gulf Daily News.

Rebecca made her passionate appeal days before the Cassation Court in Doha is scheduled to announce who will get full custody of Adam, a student at the St Christopher's Junior School, a private school in Saar, to the west of Manama, the capital. The court last week refused to grant her temporary custody of the boy.

Sheffield-born Rebecca moved to Bahrain in 1988 and married Jamal, Adam's father, in 1998. Adam was born in 1999, but the couple divorced late in the year. The father returned home, but remained in contact with them until his death in a motorbike accident in Qatar in November 2005. Rebecca and Adam nevertheless kept in touch with the family in Doha.

According to the mother, she and Adam were invited to Qatar to spend time with the family and see his supposedly sick grandmother. They left Manama on October 3, leaving behind Barrie, her husband of five years, and Alex, their four-year-old daughter.

The first two days were wonderful with the family who were the perfect hosts, according to the mother, but on the day of their departure, Adam was invited to spend one hour with his ailing grandmother while Rebecca was called for a meeting with Adam's uncle. She was eventually duped into signing papers in Arabic allegedly about Adam's inheritance share. The papers, Rebecca said, allowed the Qatari grandmother to file for custody of Adam.

A report in the Qatari daily Gulf Times said that Rebecca was "accused of being an unfit mother."

The mother, however, said that "she converted to Islam in 1999" and that "she is a housewife at home in Bahrain."

She also said that Adam was being instructed in Islamic studies and Arabic. “I want him to be fully aware of this part of his life and his culture,” the mother said, according to the paper.

Barrie flew to Doha to be with his wife and the couple has filed a case charging the Qatari family with kidnapping Adam who has the British and Qatari nationalities. The mother said that she has had any contact with her son since October 5.

Doha-based British embassy officials, quoted by the Gulf Times, said they were "in contact with the appropriate Qatari authorities and are working with them to resolve this case."

“We are keeping in close touch with the family affected and are keeping them updated of all relevant developments.”

The couple plans, in case the court gives full custody to the Qatari grandmother, to launch an international campaign that will include a press conference in London on Thursday following the court decision.

"I will go to any length to highlight this issue and I will never give up the fight," Rebecca has pledged.

Barrie is now back in Bahrain to spearhead a campaign to put pressure on British authorities to intervene and help reunite the family

An awareness campaign was launched in front of Adam's school on Sunday and more than 100 T-shirts bearing the call 'Let's bring Adam back home' as well as leaflets about the case were given to supporters and parents collecting their children from school.

More than 1,000 people are believed to have signed an online petition and e-mailed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, urging him to come to Adam's rescue.