Bechtel Egypt News Today

Proudly doond it. without hostility. >> michael shannon believes his ex-wife has turned his sons against him, but against all the odds, hes optimistic to this day. >> its what they say in egypt, its gods will. they have to come back to the united states. theyre u.s. citizens. >> reporter: michael shannon can only hope now for the future, the days his sons each turn 18 and can leave egypt on their own. that is the day he believes they will finally know the truth about their father, that he never ...

The first male grandchild of the khalifas. nermeens mother came over for the birth pf pictures show a beaming mother, father, and grandmother. there was even time for a family visit to cairo. michael shannon says his father-in-law was so overjoyed to have a grandson. he offered michael a job and a house. with just one condition. they had to live in egypt. >> i said, well, the problem is your daughter, my wife, hates this country. she hates egypt. women are second-class citizens here. she cant sm...

This is all his side of the story. these are all his lies. on court records at all. on because i was -- i never had any rulings against me for any of these things that you mentioned. >> i have the court records with me. i could show you them. im stunned that you havent seen them. you were a part of them. >> i have not seen any court records at all. >> reporter: there is no record at all that nermeen herself was abused. again, she says, that is a conspiracy. >> i had a broken tooth, swollen nose....

And i remember how difficult that decision was. >> reporter: august 2001. nermeens father, afaf khalifa, flew from her home in cairo to baltimore to visit her daughter. and there was something else. afaf khalifa was asking permission to take her two grandsons and her daughter for a rare weekend trip out of state to new york, to visit a relative. shannon was suspicious but reluctantly agreed. >> i said to my father, i said, well, theres no way she can take them to egypt. i have full custody. i ha...

>> weve got a good friend, americans have a good friend. >> reporter: it would have been a bad time to bring up a minor issue like the kidnapping of michael shannons two boys by the family with ties to egypts president. suddenly, michael shannon felt very alone. and in the letter from nermeen khalifas sister michael shannon was told, give up. "force and bad tactics will only serve to put you farthest away from your objective," she writes. "the children need to be with their mother. this is islam...

A visit with no one from the shannon family present. he will join his infant brother jason on the trip to visit a cousin. their older half-brother mike shannon recalls just how nervous his father was. >> nobody wanted to say it, but the thought always was in the back of your mind, you know, what are they getting at here? why all of the sudden change? but at the end of the day you kind of want to understand that from a grandmothers standpoint she wants to have some time with her grandson. >> repo...

It is in all parties best interests that it be done as quickly as possible." >> at any time do you know if there was some kind of negotiation with the family in egypt to say, okay, we give, were going to bring these kids back? >> not that im aware, no. >> reporter: a judge heard the case and sentenced afaf khalifa to ten years in prison on multiple counts. a sentence later reduced to three years. a 60-year-old woman, she began serving her time here at the maryland womens prison in jessup, maryla...

If this can be accomplished, the prosecutor wrote, i believe it is in all parties best interests that it be done as quickly as possible. >> reporter: at any time do you know there was some kind of negotiation with the knapp egypt to say, okay, we give. were going to bring these kids back? >> not that im aware, no. >> reporter: a judge heard the case and sentenced her to ten years in prison, on multiple counts. a sentence later reduced to three years. a 60-year-old woman, she began serving her ti...

Relative. the khalifah family arranged for an international moving company to empty the apartment where she was living. and in the final days of august, arriving to supervise the escape. >> do yfeel that before this woman, grandma, left egypt, that was the plan all along? >> thats what we believe, yes. >> reporter: michael shannon knew nothing until it was too late. clinging to the belief his legal custody, the locked passports and the grandmothers word would be enough, he waited and paced as ho...

When they die, you die with them at that age. and my wife, the last two years, finally cleaned out adams room. everything was the same as the day he left. but i cant stop picturing them as a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old. >> maryland prosecutor thomas fleckenstein says legally speaking, michael shannon has done all he could. >> the only criminal prosecution was done by our office. he brought a civil suit for damages that actually ended up being pretty groundbreaking in maryland. hes won every step...