never thought they would go this far. but just who is nermeen khalifa? and who is telling the truth about what really went on nearly 12 years ago? it is why cnn came to this upscale neighborhood in cairo. to find the mother who kidnapped her own children and ask her why. hello? hi, nermeen. this is drew griffin with cnn. reporter: it is a story very different than the tale being told in the united states. he basically, and according to the courts, feels that you ve kidnapped these children and have held them captive here for 12 years. i d like to explain my point of view. okay. reporter: when we come back, the woman wanted for kidnapping insists she is the real victim.
there s no way to tell. the picture i have of jason he s 10 months old. that could do you see any of your family in him? certainly i do. he looks like my daughter. how does it feel to be looking at these photographs of these people and after you said 11, 12 years you can t even determine if these are indeed your son? it s why i ve been trying to get a photo for 10 years from the government. the u.s. embassy. office of children s issues. state department. they all live down the street. just any photo. if these are my sons, this is the first time i ve seen them in 11 years. reporter: as we hang up, michael shannon is still not 100% sure. later, nermeen khalifa sent an e-mail to cnn claiming the boys in the images are not her sons.
nermeen khalifa has kept her sons and her silence here for years. only once agreeing to an interview with an arab media outlet. she s refused all requests from the west until now. hello? hi, nermeen, this is drew griffin with cnn. reporter: though she refused to be interviewed on camera and even refused to meet with us off camera, she did agree it was time for her to talk, at least by phone. i d like to explain my point of view. okay. reporter: her story is a completely different account of the marriage, the kidnapping, and the u.s. court record on the case. and though it may sound far-fetched in the united states, in egypt and in the middle east it is easily believed that the entire u.s. justice system conspired against her. reporter: nermeen khalifa tells us it was not she that was
company, green mail. i finally got a hold of them, and that sunday afternoon i called the baltimore county and ann arundel county police, and i just knew what had happened. look at the one picture she left. see the picture above the bed? they were out of the country before we even knew they were gone. reporter: they had gone straight to new york, straight to jfk, straight to egypt air. and before michael shannon had even realized they were gone, nermeen khalifa, adam and jason, and their grandmother, afaf khalifa were landing in cairo. untouchable. confirmation would finally come at the most unlikely time. oh, yeah. i received a call from adam right after 9/11, and he said, i m not in america anymore. i m not even in new york. because he thought new york was a separate country. he was only 4 years old at the time. he says, when are you and pop-pop coming to get me?
reporter: nermeen khalifa has refused to even share a photograph of adam and jason with their father. i m tired of this saga. i ve been suffering at his hands since the day i met him. until now, he s still trying to make my life miserable. he won t leave me alone. the man just won t leave me alone. what does he want? well, he wants his sons back, he says. well, if he wants to see his sons so much, why hasn t he come here? nermeen, baby jason, and adam. reporter: back in maryland michael shannon told us he has tried to talk to his boys every year since their disappearance. he says the khalifa family has refused to put them on the phone. he has sent e-mails for his sons. they are unanswered. would you know your son after 12 years? reporter: he has even asked through the u.s. embassy for a picture of his two sons. the family refused to allow the state department to take a photo. what he showed us are vitriolic e-mails sent by a much different