Ambassador asks Beirut to let girls leave for US

The American Ambassador, Vincent Battle, has asked the Lebanese government to allow three girls – who are caught in a custody battle between their Lebanese father and American mother – to leave for the United States.

Two of the girls have been at the embassy since last week. The third has been with her father. They used to live in Brownfield, Texas.

A foreign ministry official, said Mr Battle placed the request with the Foreign Ministry secretary general, Mohammed Issa, who deferred action while the father's case is settled in the courts. The father has sought court action against "anyone who is found guilty of his two daughters' kidnapping".

The case surfaced last week after Lebanese authorities barred two of the girls, both teenagers, from leaving the country. Their father, Behnam Slim, who divorced his wife nine years ago and returned to Lebanon with the girls, claims the mother did not seek custody of the daughters. He has not identified his former wife. Mr Slim also said his wife had only visited Lebanon twice in the past two years to see the children.