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>> reporter: it is an international nightmare that began with a most american of love stories. in 1995 michael shannon was a computer specialist in chicago when his best friend invited him to a company softball game. the company was the engineering giant bechtel, and on that softball field he met a bechtel employee, nermeen khalifa, and fell in love. >> she was in your eyes american. >> americanized. yeah. i didn't find out until three months after we were dating that her father was born in cairo. >> reporter: her egyptian father was an extremely wealthy and powerful businessman who made sure his daughters, including nermeen, were born u.s. citizens. it wasn't long before michael shannon and nermeen khalifa were married. and michael found out just how wealthy the khalifa family was. >> for a while was it a good marriage? fun?
he turned to the u.s. state department for help and found out he is not alone. >> we are aware of 22 cases, but remember this is self-reporting and there might be many more cases. >> reporter: ambassador susan jacobs is the u.s. state department special adviser on children's issues. egypt, she says, is a difficult country to deal with, because it's not signed on to the hague convention regarding children's issue, which allows, in some cases, for the return of abducted kids. >> as an american citizen whose tax dollars go over there, is there no way we can't say to egypt, you want $3 billion a year for your military? give us back these 22 kids that are american citizens? >> well, i would argue that we have a very complex relationship with egypt that goes beyond military aid. we are trying to work with egypt's government as they transition to democracy, to encourage all kinds of new practices, and one of them would
this is all his side of the story. these are all his lies. and i don't know how it's on record, on court records at all. because i was just -- 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. i'm stunned that you haven't seen them. you were 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. and a swollen nose. >> the reason i ask is because i have got huge files on this case through the years and i haven't seen any of that. >> i'm telling you, even the police were biased against me. >> and that's why you fled to egypt? >> why do you have to word it that way? i didn't flee. i was protecting myself and my children.
proudly doond it. without hostility. >> michael shannon believes his ex-wife has turned his sons against him, but against all the odds, he's optimistic to this day. >> it's what they say in egypt, it's god's will. they have to come back to the united states. they're 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 stopped fighting for them, that he never stopped loving them, that he never stopped trying to be their dad. >> patty cake, patty cake, baker's man. bake me a cake as fast as you can. >> when a father can absolutely be certain that the images being shown are in fact pictures of
the first male grandchild of the khalifas. nermeen's 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 can't smoke. she can't drink. >> more people visit spring training games than they go to -- >> reporter: there was another reason not to move to egypt. michael shannon's son from another marriage. mike was 11 years old when adam was born. now 27, he recalls the little brother from whom he became
Anderson Cooper Special Report Kidnapped A Fathers Nightmare-20140223-05:22:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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. i'm stunned that you haven't 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. >> reporter: i ask because i have huge files on this case through the years and i haven't seen any of that. >> i'm telling you. even the police conspired against me. >> reporter: that's why you fled to egypt? >> why do you have to word it they wa? i didn't flee. i was protecting myself and my children. >> reporter: nermeen khalifa refused to even share a
and i remember how difficult that decision was. >> reporter: august 2001. nermeen's 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, there's no way she can take them to egypt. i have full custody. i have full rights. i have their passports locked in a safe. how could she possibly get them out of the country? >> reporter: sunday night the boys weren't back. phone calls to the cousin in new york went unanswered. >> and then it just becomes let's get in the car and go find out what's going on. where are they?
>> we've 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 shannon's two boys by the family with ties to egypt's president. suddenly, michael shannon felt very alone. and in the letter from nermeen khalifa's 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 islamic law." and finally, eman khalifa wrote, "please don't worry about them. you should be happy for them." michael shannon's fight was only beginning. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins.