60 Minutes saga: First pictures of life in Lebanon for Sally Faulkner's kids.

Ali el-Amine, the father behind the 60 Minutes Beirut saga, has shared a picture of his two young children looking happy and having fun.

Drinking juice, eating pastries and grinning from ear to ear at a table with their father, the three look like any other ordinary young family enjoying a day out.

But it was just a week ago that el-Amine made the decision to free his children’s mother from jail, and almost three weeks since her original arrest.

An image of Elamine with his two children posted to Facebook. Source: Facebook.

In what has now made headlines across the world, Elamine's ex-wife Sally Faulkner travelled to Beirut with a 60 Minutes crew of four people, as well as four child recovery experts, hoping to recover her two children and bring them back to Australia.

And while the recovery was initially a success, it wasn't long before el-Amine and police located the group and arrested them all.

Two weeks of jail time and court negotiations followed, with a deal finally being stuck last week. The 60 Minutes crew returned to Australia immediately, with Faulkner following shortly after. The child recovery experts, however, remain in jail.

60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown and Faulkner upon their release. Source: Channel 9.

Speaking with KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O last week, el-Amine said he had taken the couple's two children - Lahela and Noah - to Beirut for the summer to be with his family, but decided to stay after Faulkner moved on with another man.

Eventually, he became aware of Faulkner's recovery plans and asked that she stop.

"I could see she was trying to orchestrate like, a kidnapping," he said sadly.

"I told her, please stop whatever you're doing because you're jeopardising our safety," he said.

"She was kind of trying to pinpoint our every move every time she Skyped the kids, and that's when I said we can't communicate with you, it's not to our favour."

El-Amine outside a Beirut court. Source: Getty. 

El-Amine also told the radio hosts that he had not explained the situation to his children truthfully, but rather that Faulkner's short visit had been a surprise.

Faulkner forfeited her custody rights to both children in order to secure her release, but el-Amine has said he will work with his ex to ensure a relationship is maintained in the future.

Sally Faulkner is reunited with her family in Australia.