A DISTRAUGHT mum has revealed her heartache after her ex-husband allegedly kidnapped her son and took him to Saudi Arabia
Ranem Elkhalidi dreams every night about seven-year-old Ibrahim -months after she dropped him at school for the last time in Frodsham, Cheshire.
And after what happened next, she now remains haunted by the fact she didn’t give him one last hug as they parted company on November 11.
Ranem told her son’s teacher his father would be picking him up at the end of the day – but it was not until the following Monday morning that she became concerned.
She was at home in nearby Helsby when she received a phone call from the school saying Ibrahim had not turned up for lessons.
She believes her ex-husband Hamzah Faraj abdjucted their son before fleeing to his native Saudi Arabia.
Ranem now feels hopeless after what she sees as a lack of help from police, who said her ex’s phone was out of service.
Ranem has now told the Daily Mail: “I felt so helpless as I knew he had gone and every hour felt like a nightmare.”
She described crying all day and frantically trying to call Hamzah, only for her number to have been blocked.
Officers confirmed the following day her ex had flown out of the UK with their son 72 hours earlier – in defiance of a court order banning him from doing so.
And the lack of an extradition treaty between Britain and Saudi Arabia means Ibrahim can remain overseas in his native Jeddah.
Ibrahim’s bedroom remains as it was eight months ago – including a lightbox saying “Love you to the moon and back” – but Renam cannot bear to enter it, calling the prospect “too painful, too hard”.
She travelled to London this month for a meeting with the Foreign Office, begging for help alongside her constituency MP Mike Amesbury who is supporting her.
She insisted: “I will do what it takes – every mother would do the same.
“England is Ibrahim’s home – he was born here, grew up here. He has never been to Saudi Arabia before.”
She added: “I think about him all the time – I have nightmares every night where he’s outside but I can’t reach him and I wake up crying.”
Police figures for England and Wales show more than 200 offences of parental child abduction, with charity Action Against Abduction suggesting almost two-thirds of cases see children taken abroad.
Saudi-born Ranem and Hamzah, who is her cousin and eight years older, had a marriage arranged by their families when she was only 15.
They arrived in Britain as newlyweds in 2014, when she was allowed residence based on his student visa to study computer science at Liverpool University.
As their marriage struggled, she applied for refugee status in 2017 – handing over her passport, which she says means she cannot leave the country after she was given English travel documents instead.
She told her “controlling” husband in 2021 she wanted a divorce though promised he could continue to see Ibrahim.
After becoming concerned Hamzah wanted to take the boy to Saudi Arabia, she applied for a “prohibited steps” order which was granted by Liverpool Civil and Family Court on November 3 last year – eight days before she last saw Ibrahim.
Mr Amesbury raised the case with foreign secretary James Cleverly in the House of Commons last month.
The Labour MP for Weaver Vale called the situation “challenging” but insisted they were trying to apply “diplomatic pressure” on Saudi Arabia to help.
He said: “The perception by the Saudi government is that he is a Saudi citizen, but he’s a Mancunian and as British as I am.
“Ultimately my job as a constituency MP is to see a boy who was born in the same city as me, and the same hospital as my own son, brought home to his mum.”
Cheshire Police have said Humzah’s details have been “circulated for child abduction on the national police database” with officers “continuing to do all they can to return the child to the UK”.
A GoFundMe page has been set up seeking donations to pay for legal help to bring Ibrahim back to Britain.
