Anyone knows why Saudi Arabia bar kids from travelling back to US?
Are there other cases like the one described below?
Bush says Saudi Arabia needs to resolve disputes over custody of American citizens
Wed Aug 28, 5:43 AM ET
By LEIGH STROPE, Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas -
…
Conservatives have been pressing Bush to more forcefully pursue humanitarian issues with Saudi Arabia, particularly citizenship cases in which American children are kidnapped or detained, often by their Saudi fathers, and are prevented from leaving.
“The president cited … the crying humanitarian concerns, the issues involving justice and the rights of people to come back to the United States if that’s their desire,” Fleischer said.
Bush referred to the case of Amjad Radwan, 19, born in Houston to an American mother and Saudi father. Radwan is prohibited from leaving Saudi Arabia.
Her story was the subject of a congressional hearing this summer, and Republicans in Congress have written several letters to Bush urging him to help.
Radwan’s mother, Monica Stowers, had taken the child and her older brother to Saudi Arabia in 1985, only to learn that her husband already was married with a family.
Stowers attempted to retrieve the children when she left, but her husband refused to let them go and a Saudi court awarded him custody. Courts there almost always favor Saudi fathers in child custody cases involving non-Saudi mothers, according to State Department officials.
In 1990, Stowers snatched the children and fled to the American Embassy, which refused to help. Stowers ultimately was arrested and imprisoned. Eventually, Radwan escaped to live with her mother and brother in Saudi Arabia, but she is not allowed to leave.
Fleischer said Bush asked the Saudi ambassador to help resolve the problems so Radwan can return to the United States. He also urged resolution of other similar cases. The ambassador said he would relay the message back to Saudi Arabia.