TABUK — A man kidnapped his five children who were in the custody of his ex-wife and took them out of the country. The children's mother said she had divorced her husband and the court gave her custody of their five children. "My ex-husband and I split up and I got to keep the kids. One day, my ex-husband convinced my mother and me that he wanted to take the kids out for a fun day with their father. He said he will take them to Riyadh and I trusted him," said the mother. She added she was waiting for her children to return home but the clock was ticking and her children were nowhere to be found. "The youngest of my children is only a year and a half and the eldest is 10 years old. I found out later that my ex-husband had kidnapped my children and took them out of the country. I kept questioning my ex-husband until he finally told me that he dropped them off at their grandmother's house in Syria," said the mother. She added she immediately contacted the Saudi Embassy in Turkey but they informed her that the children are in a danger zone that is hard to approach. "They were abandoned in a refugee camp in Turkey near the border with Syria," said the mother. She said she has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do something about the situation and bring her children back to her. "My eldest daughter has an auto-immune disease and her sister is visually impaired. They need medical attention. I am unable to sleep until my children return to me," said the mother. Saudi Ambassador in Ankara Adel Mirdad said the embassy is aware of the case of the children who are abandoned in a refugee camp. "We have forwarded all documents to the pertinent authorities and are doing our best to bring them back," said Mirdad.
