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American Morning

Interview with Samantha Seramur, Maha al-Rehaili

Aired October 02, 2002 - 07:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On Capitol Hill this morning, lawmakers will hear from parents living in the U.S. whose children have been kidnapped by their spouses and taken to Saudi Arabia. The distraught parents want to know why the U.S. State Department is not helping get their children back.
Case in point: Samantha Seramur had three children with her Saudi Arabian husband. After their divorce, the kids visited him in Saudi Arabia, and the father would not let the children leave -- three of them.

Last month, while on vacation in Malaysia, Samantha rescued her middle child, 16-year-old Maha. But her other two children still remain in Saudi Arabia.

This morning, Samantha Seramur and Maha al-Rehaili join us this morning in Washington.

Good to see you both and good morning.

MAHA AL-REHAILI, SAMANTHA'S DAUGHTER: Good morning.

SAMANTHA SERAMUR, MOTHER OF THREE: Good morning.

HEMMER: Samantha, this is an amazing story out of Kuala Lumpur. You make contact with your daughter almost about a year ago. You find out she's on vacation in Malaysia. You go there to take her away. How did you get her out?

SERAMUR: Well, actually, I -- my daughter, she called me, and then I took her to -- I picked her up from her hotel, where she escaped from, and we ran to the American embassy after that.

HEMMER: That was just one of your children -- two others, though, also there in Malaysia at the time. Why not take them, Samantha?

SERAMUR: Well, we couldn't get them up in time, and we risked ruining the entire operation. We tried to get them, but they would wake up, and then everybody would be woken up, and it would have risked my daughter's life, as well as everybody else's. So, it was either take the one or nothing.

HEMMER: That was a little more than a month ago. Is there any contact now with your other two children, Samantha?

SERAMUR: No. Actually, we have no contact whatsoever with the other children at this time.

HEMMER: Maha, tell us about your life in Saudi Arabia. You were living with your father. You were there for about eight years. What was your life like?

AL-REHAILI: Well, I was really depressed, because I didn't have my mother me. And we didn't live a normal life over there. It wasn't normal.

HEMMER: What do you mean not normal?

AL-REHAILI: Well, you couldn't do the things you do here, like go out, read in the park, or just go for a ride on a bicycle. You can't do that over there. It's not normal. It's not a normal life.

HEMMER: Do you have any concerns for your other two siblings still back there?

AL-REHAILI: I am really concerned about them. I love them so much and miss them a lot.

HEMMER: Do you think they will follow you back to the U.S.?

AL-REHAILI: Yes...

HEMMER: You do? How so?

AL-REHAILI: ... but it's going to be a difficult situation.

HEMMER: Yes. Can you tell us how you believe that's going to happen, Maha?

AL-REHAILI: I hope the U.S. government will make an agreement with the Saudi government and try to get them out.

HEMMER: What about the U.S. government, Samantha? Do you believe right now it's doing as much as it can? Dan Burton, a congressman from Indiana, has picked up this cause and fought it hard for a couple of years right now. Has the State Department done enough, in your estimation?

SERAMUR: Well, I think that the State Department is probably limited by the system that has been established and has been in place for decades now concerning the American citizens overseas. And I do think that we have to take this case and use it as an example so that a new system can be devised to protect Americans, not only in Saudi Arabia, but all over the world.

HEMMER: The kingdom of Saudi Arabia insisted there are thousands of child abduction cases that take place in countless countries every year, and Saudi Arabia is in no way the exception to the rule.

You, however, will bring a different opinion before Congress, in fact, starting today at hearings. What is your message there, Samantha? SERAMUR: Well, I don't know if it's quite such a different opinion, but I do think that it's a good starting point. Saudi Arabia, for decades has been -- for one decade at least or more -- has been having problems with these kinds of cases. And I think that it's time that we start to solve them and resolve the issues at hand.

And then, I think that the Saudi government and the U.S. government can make it a monumental thing, you know, to begin solving these cases.

HEMMER: Well, listen, your daughter says your other two children will follow at some point. Do you believe the same?

SERAMUR: Yes, actually, I do. I think that it's kind of like a domino effect. We have all of the Saudi citizens that risked their lives to help me get my child out, and I do believe that this case, you know, will just be the start of all of the rest of the cases that are there and around the world.

So, hopefully, everybody will take the initiative now that if our governments can't get together to solve the issue, the citizens themselves can help.

HEMMER: Good luck today. Thanks for your time this morning.

SERAMUR: Thank you.

HEMMER: Samantha Seramur, Maha al-Rehaili. One of her children now back in the U.S.; two others, again, remain in the Saudi kingdom.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired October 2, 2002 - 07:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On Capitol Hill this morning, lawmakers will hear from parents living in the U.S. whose children have been kidnapped by their spouses and taken to Saudi Arabia. The distraught parents want to know why the U.S. State Department is not helping get their children back.
Case in point: Samantha Seramur had three children with her Saudi Arabian husband. After their divorce, the kids visited him in Saudi Arabia, and the father would not let the children leave -- three of them.

Last month, while on vacation in Malaysia, Samantha rescued her middle child, 16-year-old Maha. But her other two children still remain in Saudi Arabia.

This morning, Samantha Seramur and Maha al-Rehaili join us this morning in Washington.

Good to see you both and good morning.

MAHA AL-REHAILI, SAMANTHA'S DAUGHTER: Good morning.

SAMANTHA SERAMUR, MOTHER OF THREE: Good morning.

HEMMER: Samantha, this is an amazing story out of Kuala Lumpur. You make contact with your daughter almost about a year ago. You find out she's on vacation in Malaysia. You go there to take her away. How did you get her out?

SERAMUR: Well, actually, I -- my daughter, she called me, and then I took her to -- I picked her up from her hotel, where she escaped from, and we ran to the American embassy after that.

HEMMER: That was just one of your children -- two others, though, also there in Malaysia at the time. Why not take them, Samantha?

SERAMUR: Well, we couldn't get them up in time, and we risked ruining the entire operation. We tried to get them, but they would wake up, and then everybody would be woken up, and it would have risked my daughter's life, as well as everybody else's. So, it was either take the one or nothing.

HEMMER: That was a little more than a month ago. Is there any contact now with your other two children, Samantha?

SERAMUR: No. Actually, we have no contact whatsoever with the other children at this time.

HEMMER: Maha, tell us about your life in Saudi Arabia. You were living with your father. You were there for about eight years. What was your life like?

AL-REHAILI: Well, I was really depressed, because I didn't have my mother me. And we didn't live a normal life over there. It wasn't normal.

HEMMER: What do you mean not normal?

AL-REHAILI: Well, you couldn't do the things you do here, like go out, read in the park, or just go for a ride on a bicycle. You can't do that over there. It's not normal. It's not a normal life.

HEMMER: Do you have any concerns for your other two siblings still back there?

AL-REHAILI: I am really concerned about them. I love them so much and miss them a lot.

HEMMER: Do you think they will follow you back to the U.S.?

AL-REHAILI: Yes...

HEMMER: You do? How so?

AL-REHAILI: ... but it's going to be a difficult situation.

HEMMER: Yes. Can you tell us how you believe that's going to happen, Maha?

AL-REHAILI: I hope the U.S. government will make an agreement with the Saudi government and try to get them out.

HEMMER: What about the U.S. government, Samantha? Do you believe right now it's doing as much as it can? Dan Burton, a congressman from Indiana, has picked up this cause and fought it hard for a couple of years right now. Has the State Department done enough, in your estimation?

SERAMUR: Well, I think that the State Department is probably limited by the system that has been established and has been in place for decades now concerning the American citizens overseas. And I do think that we have to take this case and use it as an example so that a new system can be devised to protect Americans, not only in Saudi Arabia, but all over the world.

HEMMER: The kingdom of Saudi Arabia insisted there are thousands of child abduction cases that take place in countless countries every year, and Saudi Arabia is in no way the exception to the rule.

You, however, will bring a different opinion before Congress, in fact, starting today at hearings. What is your message there, Samantha? SERAMUR: Well, I don't know if it's quite such a different opinion, but I do think that it's a good starting point. Saudi Arabia, for decades has been -- for one decade at least or more -- has been having problems with these kinds of cases. And I think that it's time that we start to solve them and resolve the issues at hand.

And then, I think that the Saudi government and the U.S. government can make it a monumental thing, you know, to begin solving these cases.

HEMMER: Well, listen, your daughter says your other two children will follow at some point. Do you believe the same?

SERAMUR: Yes, actually, I do. I think that it's kind of like a domino effect. We have all of the Saudi citizens that risked their lives to help me get my child out, and I do believe that this case, you know, will just be the start of all of the rest of the cases that are there and around the world.

So, hopefully, everybody will take the initiative now that if our governments can't get together to solve the issue, the citizens themselves can help.

HEMMER: Good luck today. Thanks for your time this morning.

SERAMUR: Thank you.

HEMMER: Samantha Seramur, Maha al-Rehaili. One of her children now back in the U.S.; two others, again, remain in the Saudi kingdom.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.