'It looked much worse than it was': Tara Brown plays down confronting photos of her being bundled into police car handcuffed
Journalist Tara Brown has played down confronting photos of her and Sally Faulkner being pushed into a car outside a Lebanese court.
The pair told News Corp that her and Faulkner burst out laughing seconds after being bundled into a police car.
Tara Brown said the pair laughed about the incident after these dramatic photos were taken. Photo: 7 News
Tara Brown being led into the police car after the brief court hearing on Monday. Photo: AAP
"It looked much worse than it was,' Ms Brown said from inside the Baabda women's prison.
"They were trying to protect me from the cameras, it might have been easier for me to turn my head."
The dramatic photos emerged on Monday after Brown and Falkner were led out of Baabda Palace of Justice when their hearing was postponed.
Brown added: “I don’t even have my hairbrush in here,”
“Did they seriously think we have some sort of beauty salon here?”
Tara Brown was dressed head to toe in black when she was photographed being led from the Palace of Justice. Photo: Getty
Photo: EPA
Photo: Getty Images
Ms Faulkner added: "We were laughing in the car, all we wanted to do was not get her photo taken."
The dramatic scene was the first time that Brown and Faulkner have been seen since their arrest on April 7 when the pair were arrested alongside seven other people in connection with a failed attempt to snatch Lahela, 5, and Noah, 3, from their father's mother on a Beirut street.
The crew responsible for the botched child abduction in Beirut is also thought to have carried out 'practice runs' in the days leading up to the scandal.
Fairfax reports that a suspicious vehicle was spotted tracking the children's route to school, for two days before the attempt.
Sally Faulkner and her children. Photo: 7 News
Brisbane mum Sally Falkner is still behind bars with the Nine news crew involved. Photo: Yahoo7
Mr Elamine also says it is up to prosecutors, not him, to decide if any charges against his ex-wife or the news crew should be dropped.
The father-of-two says the nine people arrested in connection with the attempt had "done something illegal".
"It's all in the prosecutors' hands," he told 3AW in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
Nine people are in custody following the botched child abduction attempt in Lebanon. Photo: 7 News
Mr Elamine was speaking after his estranged wife and reporter Tara Brown appeared before a judge in Beirut on Monday night, Australian time.
Ms Faulkner's lawyer had said before the hearing that she had offered to drop her claim for sole custody of Lahela, 5, and Noah, 3, if Mr Elamine dropped the abduction charges.
But Mr Elamine has indicated this is unlikely.
"They came into our country. They have done something illegal," he told 3AW.
"If the tables were turned, if I were to show up in Australia trying to kidnap someone ... I would have probably been shot on the spot, called a terrorist."
Closed-door negotiations over the fate of Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew were held in Beirut before judge Rami Abdullah, who adjourned the talks until Wednesday.
Ali Elamine is pictured with his two children, Lahela, 5, and Noah, 3. Photo: Facebook
Ali Elamine said he won't drop charges because he believes it will lead to the release of the TV crew. Photo: 7 News
"This is the demand of the lawyers ... to allow for negotiations," the judge said in his office at the end of Monday's proceedings, at which Ms Brown and Ms Faulkner briefly appeared.
Again, he stressed the seriousness of the charges the defendants were facing.
"This is not a custody case," Judge Abdullah said.
"They are charged with kidnapping two kids."
It was the third time the women had appeared in court following their arrest earlier this month after a "child recovery" team snatched Ms Faulkner's two young children from a Beirut street as they were walking with their Lebanese grandmother.
The children were returned to their father soon after and the 60 Minutes team in Lebanon to film the operation - Ms Brown, Benjamin Williamson, David Ballment and Stephen Rice - were arrested.
Along with Ms Faulkner, they have been in jail in Beirut ever since.
Mr Elamine, was on the defensive when he arrived at the Palace of Justice on Monday, indicating he was not prepared to drop charges against his wife.
To do so, he said, would lead to the release of the news team who filmed the "child recovery" operation and those who carried it out.
"The way they are trying to push for this is that if Sally (Faulkner) goes out on bail, they all get out," the 32-year-old said as he prepared to meet Judge Abdullah.
"That is how I am seeing it as an outsider ... They are pushing for Sal's release and everyone else gets a green card."
Nine had "dropped the ball by getting involved in family matters" and now "everyone is blaming the other for what happened", he added.
Negotiations had been progressing between lawyers for Ms Faulkner and Mr Elamine when "suddenly Mr Elamine's lawyer said 'we are not in a hurry'".
The two others facing charges are believed to be members of the child-recovery agency hired for the operation - Britons Craig Michael and Adam Whittington.
All involved are facing charges of kidnapping and being members of a criminal gang, which can attract maximum sentences of up to three years and 10 years respectively.
