Talia Belaid Abduction: Anger as She Remains in Libya
By Jenny Rees
BBC Wales home affairs correspondent
3 May 2019
Maher Belaid was jailed in 2014 for abducting his daughter Talia and taking her to Libya
A mother is "very angry" attempts to return her abducted six-year-old daughter from Libya have failed and has pleaded for help.
Talia Belaid was taken by her father in 2012, when she was three months old.
Her father Maher Belaid, was jailed for four years in 2014 when he returned to the UK without Talia, who is still in Libya with her grandmother.
Her mother Gosia Szymanowicz, who lives in Cardiff, was told on Thursday there was nothing more the High Court can do.
Mr Justice Holman advised her to write to her MP to drive the case up the agenda of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, or visit Libya herself to retrieve her.
However, current Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice to UK residents is to avoid all travel to Libya.
"I am very angry and I know it's difficult because it's Libya, but I know something can be done, nothing is impossible," said Ms Szymanowicz.
"If the situation there was different, and not a war, of course I will go, but because the war is there it's not safe, and no-one can help me there, so I don't feel safe going there.
"She is my daughter, I am the mother, I have to be strong for her, and one day she will be happy - with me."
She added: "I ask everyone, anyone who can help me, to help, because I know together we can bring her back."
Ms Szymanowicz's MP Jo Stevens said she hoped to meet Mr Hunt and discuss how the government can help return Talia to the UK.
The Cardiff Central MP also agreed it was unsafe for Ms Szymanowicz to travel to Libya.
"People are at risk of severe danger if they do so and there is no consulate assistance in Libya for people travelling there from the UK," she added.
"That seems a suggestion that flies in the face of what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is actually advising."
Belaid was jailed in connection with the abduction in 2014, and released on licence in August 2017.
However, in recent months he has failed to comply with the terms of his licence and is being sought by police.
BBC Wales home affairs correspondent
3 May 2019
Maher Belaid was jailed in 2014 for abducting his daughter Talia and taking her to Libya
A mother is "very angry" attempts to return her abducted six-year-old daughter from Libya have failed and has pleaded for help.
Talia Belaid was taken by her father in 2012, when she was three months old.
Her father Maher Belaid, was jailed for four years in 2014 when he returned to the UK without Talia, who is still in Libya with her grandmother.
Her mother Gosia Szymanowicz, who lives in Cardiff, was told on Thursday there was nothing more the High Court can do.
Mr Justice Holman advised her to write to her MP to drive the case up the agenda of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, or visit Libya herself to retrieve her.
However, current Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice to UK residents is to avoid all travel to Libya.
"I am very angry and I know it's difficult because it's Libya, but I know something can be done, nothing is impossible," said Ms Szymanowicz.
"If the situation there was different, and not a war, of course I will go, but because the war is there it's not safe, and no-one can help me there, so I don't feel safe going there.
"She is my daughter, I am the mother, I have to be strong for her, and one day she will be happy - with me."
She added: "I ask everyone, anyone who can help me, to help, because I know together we can bring her back."
Ms Szymanowicz's MP Jo Stevens said she hoped to meet Mr Hunt and discuss how the government can help return Talia to the UK.
The Cardiff Central MP also agreed it was unsafe for Ms Szymanowicz to travel to Libya.
"People are at risk of severe danger if they do so and there is no consulate assistance in Libya for people travelling there from the UK," she added.
"That seems a suggestion that flies in the face of what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is actually advising."
Belaid was jailed in connection with the abduction in 2014, and released on licence in August 2017.
However, in recent months he has failed to comply with the terms of his licence and is being sought by police.
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