reporter: it is an international nightmare that began with a most american of love stories. in 1995 michael shannon was a computer specialist in chicago when his best friend invited him to a company softball game. the company was the engineering giant bechtel, and on that softball field he met a bechtel employee, nermeen khalifa, and fell in love. she was in your eyes american. americanized. yeah. i didn t find out until three months after we were dating that her father was born in cairo. reporter: her egyptian father was an extremely wealthy and powerful businessman who made sure his daughters, including nermeen, were born u.s. citizens. it wasn t long before michael shannon and nermeen khalifa were married. and michael found out just how wealthy the khalifa family was. for a while was it a good marriage? fun?
the first male grandchild of the khalifas. nermeen s mother came over for the birth pf pictures show a beaming mother, father, and grandmother. there was even time for a family visit to cairo. michael shannon says his father-in-law was so overjoyed to have a grandson. he offered michael a job and a house. with just one condition. they had to live in egypt. i said, well, the problem is your daughter, my wife, hates this country. she hates egypt. women are second-class citizens here. she can t smoke. she can t drink. more people visit spring training games than they go to reporter: there was another reason not to move to egypt. michael shannon s son from another marriage. mike was 11 years old when adam was born. now 27, he recalls the little brother from whom he became
inseparable. i d go to bed, and trying to kick him out of my room the hardest i could, get him to go to his room, and knowing that i had to wake up for school the next morning, and my alarm going off at 6:00 in the morning and waking up, and there he is, like already back in my bed, cuddled up next to me. reporter: it was idyllic only in pictures. michael shannon says his wife had a drinking problem, something she denies. maryland police records show nermeen was charged with assaulting her husband and placed on probation. as part of that probation she was ordered to undergo treatment at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. and one time i had to take him to the hospital and she came in there drunk and tried to remove him from the hospital and they called social services and did an investigation. reporter: the couple separated. michael taking custody of adam. nermeen could visit finish your soup, adam. reporter: but shannon insisted a third party be present. his own f
as an american citizen whose tax dollars go over there, is there no way we can say to egypt you want $3 billion a year for your military? give us back these 22 kids that are american citizens. well, i would argue that we have a very complex relationship that goes beyond military aid. we are trying to work with egypt s government as they transition to democracy to encourage all kinds of new practices. and one of them would be adherence to the hague convention or to recognize u.s. court orders. and we ll continue to urge them to do that. but i don t think we re going to just say, you know, we re through with you if you don t do this one thing because we have many things that we want them to do. this is one of them. reporter: michael shannon has heard that same explanation for more than a decade. and all that time he has been fighting the court case back in maryland michael s sons have
sure. of course. i got to travel to zurich and stay at a chalet and spent three weeks in sharm el-sheikh in cairo and alexandria. in a $3 million mansion in el alamein on the mediterranean. and her father wanted me to stay there. reporter: osama khalifa was very successful. chairman of bechtel egypt. he sat on several egyptian government boards of the then dictator hosni mubarak. and he still runs his financial and banking consulting firm near the family apartment building he owns. but one thing osama khalifa did not have was a grandson to take over his empire. he wanted grandsons. oh, yeah. he had four daughters and six granddaughters and no male children. reporter: but that changed soon after nermeen and michael were married. come. reporter: adam shannon was born on february 2nd, 1997.