at 18:59 on March 2, 2007, EST.
By JAMES STEVENSON

CALGARY (CP) - Melissa Hawach had a terrible fear that she'd hugged her two little daughters for the last time when she found them after a globe-crossing search at a playground in war-torn Lebanon last December.

The next day, after an agonizing and tear-filled night, she jumped at the chance to "reclaim" Hannah and Cedar, nearly six months after they disappeared on a trip to Australia with her estranged husband.

Joseph Hawach, a dual Australian-Lebanese citizen, allegedly abducted his daughters and took them to Lebanon while the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict raged.

Despite reports of daring commando raids and teams of mercenaries retrieving the children, Hawach says she alone waited for them in plain view.

"I alone walked into the playground where Hannah and Cedar were playing," she said Friday at her first public appearance since secretly returning to Canada last month.

"I alone called to them and they in turn came to me, recognizing me as their mother. We left the premises without confrontation or conflict and we've been together ever since."

Hawach's story, which garnered headlines around the globe, began last July when her children, aged six and three, disappeared with their father during a three-week holiday to Sydney. The former couple reportedly were getting along well and sharing custody of the children before the trip.

Melissa, 32, admits she hired "security contractors" to help find her children, but added the contractors were there only to help with the driving.

Two former soldiers, Australian Brian Corrigan and New Zealander David Pemberton, are still in a Lebanese prison after being arrested for their alleged part in the saga.

"Personally, I know they did not commit a crime," Hawach said. "In Lebanon, it's a different story."

Originally charged with child abduction, the two men had their charges reduced last month to a misdemeanour.

Hawach said her seven-month search for her children cost her "hundreds of thousands of dollars," part of which went to pay a legal team of eight lawyers in three different countries.

She said soon after her daughters disappeared, she began receiving demands from her husband and his family. They included selling her house in Calgary and putting the proceeds into a trust fund, moving to Australia and agreeing to give him full custody of the girls.

She flew to Australia twice in an effort to convince her husband's family and the courts to give her custody and return her daughters. But she was unsuccessful and by November she decided to go to Lebanon.

After being reunited just days before Christmas, Melissa and her daughters stayed with friends in Lebanon for weeks and tried to carry on a normal life. Cedar learned to write her name while Hannah learned to tell time.

In February, Hawach and her children secretly returned home through Syria.

Now, her former husband's family has been trying to get an arrest warrant in Lebanon, but Hawach said she's not worried.

"I know there aren't any extradition treaties between Lebanon and Canada and I'm quite happy living in Canada. I don't plan on going back to Lebanon any time soon."

Joseph Hawach faces Canadian charges of parental abduction, fraud over $5,000 and false pretenses.

The Missing Children Society of Canada, while not encouraging parents to do some of the things Hawach did to get her daughters back, said it stands behind her.

"She was forced to do what she did because she was left with no other choice," said spokeswoman Rhonda Morgan.

The dramatic story has already gained Hollywood's attention. Reports suggest actress Angelina Jolie and 20th Century Fox are interested in securing the movie rights.

But Hawach said seeing her life on the big screen is far from her mind.

"My focus right now is the girls, so ... right now I'm just focused on other things and it's just not that important."


©The Canadian Press, 2007

Awwwww, the story finally has closure and a happy ending