Vikings have raided Morocco, again.

[Kjertesvein]

This is the short story:

Khalid Skah married Norwegian interior designer Anne Cecilie Hopstock after his Barcelona triumph, and they have two children. The marriage ended in divorce after the family relocated to Morocco in 2006. Skah lost a custody battle with his former wife in Norwegian courts two years later, yet failed to return the children. He is indicted on kidnapping, threats and domestic disturbance charges in Norway.

The children fled Morocco in July 2009. The Norwegian embassy's alleged improper sheltering of the dual-citizenship children during their escape has led to a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Skah has filed for custody in Morocco and has issued a (500 000$) reward to whoever brings the two children back to him.

The former track champion maintains his innocence, claims the children were abducted and that armed Norwegian commandos intruded into his home. Hopstock later confirmed she had hired aides with naval ranger background to help her sail her children out of Moroccan waters.

-Wiki

More elaborated:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A child custody battle between a Moroccan former Olympic athlete and his estranged Norwegian wife has strained diplomatic ties after Morocco said Norway helped spirit the two children away from their father.
The children aged 16 and 13 spent time at the Norwegian ambassador's residence in Rabat last week before they were smuggled out of the country, Morocco's Foreign Ministry said.
Norway says it did nothing wrong, that the children were held in Morocco against their will and it had feared for their safety. The two have joint Moroccan and Norwegian nationality.
"His Majesty the King's government denounces the clear involvement of the Norwegian embassy in this illegal exit from national territory," the Moroccan foreign ministry said in a statement after it summoned the Norwegian ambassador.
It said the Vienna Convention on diplomatic activity had been flouted and accused Norway's embassy of acting in an inconsiderate manner and making contradictory statements.
Moroccan newspapers said the children were kidnapped from their father Khalid Skah, who separated from his wife Anner Cecilie Hopstock in 2006. Skah won a gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
"On Sunday last week, the two Norwegian citizens approached the Norwegian embassy fearing for their lives," said a spokesman for the Norwegian government. "They were therefore accepted into the embassy to stay for a few days."
He said Hopstock came to take them back to Norway and denied that the Norwegian government had helped them leave Morocco.
"After so many months being concerned for their safety, we are happy they are back safely with their mother," he added.
Hopstock told Norwegian media that she had travelled with Skah and their children to Morocco in 2006. She said he locked them up in separate rooms and took away their passports.
She returned to Norway in January 2007 and the children were meant to follow but Skah kept them in Morocco.
"This is a sad fate," Hopstock was quoted as saying by Norwegian paper VG. "I don't know why his character changed."
Skah told a Moroccan newspaper he was living with his children in peace and harmony until the Norwegian ambassador came to his house with armed men and kidnapped the children.

http://www.javno.com/en-world/morocc...dy-case_272612

The embassy in Marocco transported the individuals from the embassy, to another location. "Aiding the kidnappers" says Morocco. "Helping them away from local danger" says N. foreign miniser.

Sailboat used

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You wish, but no...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The whole Defence department and the Foreign secretery is extremly silent for days, except for a press confrence which says they are not involved. If they were then this would mean serious consequeces. The Marocco government is "not happy about this", as Forign minister pointed out.

When is it ok for states to act or Commando's go into another sovreign?

Ok, I also heard something about a fatwa regarding this incident:

Former Olympic athletics champion Khalid Skah is to seek an Islamic ruling or fatwa to get back
his children who he says were kidnapped by the Norwegian government on behalf of his ex-wife.

As well as seeking the fatwa, Skah, the 10,000 metres champion at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics,
also told AFP in an interview on Wednesday that "I decided to give 500,000 dollars to whoever
brings back my children to Morocco."

"I will ask the ulemas (scholars) of the Muslim-Arab world to issue a fatwa on the best way of
getting back my two children: Selma, born in 1993 and Tarik, born in 1996," he said.

I'm not familiar with the Islamolingo. How serious are we talking? I also heard we are soon talking about an international criminal court...

Learning lesson in this story: If you want something done (wrong), do it yourself.

[Dr. Croccer]

Might end up bad. A fatwa is basically a declaration by a clergyman. But there's no central authority in Islam so it's validity in the eyes of Muslims depends on the imago of the clergyman in question. This might get worse, to the point where Moroccan-Norwegian relations start to suffer and/or Islamists will grab this oppertunity to turn Norway into the new Great Satan for whatever reason.

[MathiasOfAthens]

The Norwegians were never really good at going "Viking", take it from the Danes, "Rape, Pillage, Plunder, exit with a high level of tribute."

[Phier]

Good for them if true.

[Gromovnik]

And he kidnapped them in the first place.

[Menelik_I]

And he kidnapped them in the first place.

That was my feeling too,

Good to see that woman not getting intimidated and getting all medieval on her former husband with giant Viking special forces dudes ...

@Trey:

There is actually a movie about an American women rescuing her daughter from some Iranian of a husband, it was made in the 1980s.

[Gatsby]

It sounds more like Morocco illegally taking a Norwegian citizen not vice-versa.

[Blaze86420]

@Trey:

There is actually a movie about an American women rescuing her daughter from some Iranian of a husband, it was made in the 1980s.

Oh yeah! I remember that one. No wonder this sounded so familiar to me.

[Treize]

Life is better in Norway.

You don't want your children to grow up in Morroco.

[MathiasOfAthens]

What do the kids want (Teenagers).

[Gromovnik]

What do the kids want (Teenagers).

I bet a 17 year old girl would love nothing more than to live in Morocco...

[Anony]

The odd moment when you search your name on google and find this thread.

[removeduser_4536284751384]

He locked his wife and kids up and took away their passports? No wonder they left. Obviously an .

[Facupay]

Very complex topic. On the one hand the custody was won by the woman in Norway when the children were in Norway and this guy Khan had problems with the law there so it was completely illegal for Khan to take them to Morocco. However, the action taken by norway was a violation of international law, but if they tried to resolve this through the UN and an international tribunal it would take years and years before the mother could see her children back and Morocco doesn't seem like the best place for raising childs and I doubt it's legal system.

I dunno, the actions of the norweigan "commandos" were illegal regarding international law but legitimate, they had very good reasons to violate the law. I tend to side with them. This seems like one fo those "the end justifies the means" situations.

[Shea O'Gorath]

If it was a genuine plea for aid from the children to escape the country then norway done the right thing.
Imaging they were released back to the father. We would probably end up hearing of another murder of ones family because they had becone to westernised

[Blaze86420]

Sounds like film material.

[Trey]

Sounds like film material.

I could have sworn that I saw a Lifetime movie of this awhile back, except for the fact that the abusive husband wasn't brutally killed so I'm not so sure.

[Himster]

The father sounds like a complete ing .

[Admiral Piett]

Sounds kind of like the case of Betty Mahmoody in Iran.