postponement, until february of 2006. then, nothing. it has lingered in this court ever since. american orders to bring american citizens back to the united states ignored. the bottom line is when we talk the american orders to egypt and asked for them to be, in the lingo of this specialty, domesticated, we were just laughed at. this was a pure and simple kidnapping with a lot of elements involved, a lot of planning involved. i keep going back to this family that you married into and knew. are you 01:38:37:. never thought they d are you stunned still stunned of course. never thought they would go this far. but just who is nermeen khalifa? and who is telling the truth about what really went on nearly 12 years ago? it is why cnn came to this upscale neighborhood in cairo.
to find the mother who kidnapped her own children and ask her why. hello? hi, nermeen. this is drew griffin with cnn. reporter: it is a story very different than the tale being told in the united states. he basically, and according to the courts, feels that you ve kidnapped these children and have held them captive here for 12 years. i d like to explain my point of view. okay. reporter: when we come back, the woman wanted for kidnapping insists she is the real victim. [ female announcer ] girls don t talk about pads. but they do talk about always infinity. [ marcy ] it s like memory foam. [ female announcer ] the only pad made from a revolutionary material. [ erina ] it totally fits to your body. [ female announcer ] it s incredible protection, you ll barely feel it. always infinity. tell us what you think. announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal
hello? hi, nermeen, this is drew griffin with cnn. reporter: though she refused to be interviewed on camera and even refused to meet with us off camera, she did agree it was time for her to talk, at least by phone. i d like to explain my point of view. okay. reporter: her story is a completely different account of the marriage, the kidnapping, and the u.s. court record on the case. and though it may sound far-fetched in the united states, in egypt and in the middle east it is easily believed that the entire u.s. justice system conspired against her. reporter: nermeen khalifa tells us it was not she that was the abuser, it was him, not she that was the alcoholic, it was him, and not she that kept the family apart, it was him.
that could do you see any of your family in him? certainly i do. he looks like my daughter. how does it feel to be looking at these photographs of these people and after you said 11, 12 years you can t even determine if these are indeed your son? it s why i ve been trying to get a photo for 10 years from the government. the u.s. embassy. office of children s issues. state department. they all live down the street. just any photo. if these are my sons, this is the first time i ve seen them in 11 years. reporter: as we hang up, michael shannon is still not 100% sure. later, nermeen khalifa sent an e-mail to cnn claiming the boys in the images are not her sons. but she refused to give us any pictures.
you re not alone. the state department told cnn it doesn t interfere in deportation cases, that is up to the u.s. immigration service. and no one from immigration has returned multiple phone calls and e-mails, asking for comment. michael shannon hired the lawyer who arguably knows more about international child abduction than anyone in the country, who believes the u.s. government not only has done nothing to help, it may have expedited afaf khalifa s deportation. these are american bocizens. they n entitled to be egyptian citizens. and they ve been h ia foren cou and the government unfortunately has done nothing about it. reporter: shoon turned to an egyptian court for help hiringn en attorney to help him enforce his u.s. custody rights. the case was filed in 2002. it was postponed two years,