INTERNATIONAL Custody dispute crosses borders

The Hermitage man risked imprisonment to get his daughter out of Jordan.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Ned Seder is willing to allow his 4-year-old daughter to return to Jordan to live with her mother, provided that he is guaranteed three months' visitation with the child each year.
The offer comes after Seder, risking likely imprisonment in Jordan, spirited his daughter out of that country after learning his ex-wife had remarried and planned to move to Qatar with their daughter, Nadeen.
He said he realizes that Nadeen needs to be with her mother and he is willing to make arrangements to see that happens, provided certain conditions are met.
Seder, now an American citizen, came to the United States with his wife, Alia Makahleh, from Jordan 15 years ago.
He owned two small markets in Sharon and Farrell and became a soccer coach in the local schools. The couple had a daughter, Nadeen, on Aug. 13, 1999. Nadeen, born in the United States, was automatically an American citizen.
The couple separated the next year, for reasons that Seder said he still doesn't understand, and they got joint custody of Nadeen under U.S. law.
What happened next
Makahleh petitioned the court for permission to take Nadeen to Jordan, ostensibly for a three-month visit, and left the United States in September 2000.
She never came back, nor did she allow Nadeen to return, Seder said.
Instead, she filed for divorce under Jordanian law as soon as she reached that country, he said.
The divorce was granted, and a Jordanian court ruled that Seder was allowed to visit with his daughter two hours every Saturday. That was later increased to three hours.
"I was devastated," he recalled, adding that he made a trip to Jordan nearly every month for the first two years she was there but that legal expenses incurred in the fight to get Nadeen back ate up his money, and he had to curtail the frequency of his visits.
He hadn't seen her for nearly two years until he went to visit earlier this month.
He sold both of his businesses and enrolled in law school but decided to switch to education, enrolling at Youngstown State University because being a teacher would give him three free months each summer to visit Nadeen in Jordan.
In the meantime, Seder was able to persuade a Mercer County Common Pleas Court to give him sole custody of Nadeen, and police have an active warrant for Makahleh charging her with interference with custody of a child, if she returns to the United States.
Bold moves
He always had to meet with Nadeen in a supervised environment in a women's center in Jordan when he visited before, but when he went to Jordan this month and called his ex-wife's family to arrange a visit, he was told they would bring Nadeen to his parents' house in Jordan.
Seder said he became suspicious, wondering why Makahleh's family was suddenly so accommodating.
He said he learned that Makahleh had remarried and planned to move to Qatar and that she wanted him to sign a document allowing her to take Nadeen to Qatar.
It was then that Seder decided to sneak Nadeen out of Jordan and back to the United States.
He called his ex-in-laws and asked to see Nadeen for two hours that morning.
One of Makahleh's brothers brought Nadeen to a restaurant, and Seder said he showed up wearing his pajamas to make it appear he had no ulterior motive in asking for the early-morning visitation.
The uncle had to go to work and left Nadeen with him an hour early, Seder recalled, adding that he had on a shirt beneath his pajamas, and his and Nadeen's American passports and cash in his pockets.
As soon as the uncle left, Seder said he and Nadeen went to the airport and took the first available flight out of the country, arriving home early Wednesday.
His worry
"We're not safe," he said during an interview in a restaurant Monday as Nadeen playfully ate lunch and teased her father. She speaks some English but converses mostly in Arabic.
Seder said he fears Makahleh's family may make some move to take her back, and so, he and Nadeen aren't staying at the home he owns in Hermitage.
He said he is surprised that Makahleh and her family have made no effort to contact him or Nadeen since they left Jordan.
Nevertheless, Seder said he realizes that Nadeen needs the love and attention of her mother, and he is willing to allow the child to return to live with her, but only in Jordan, not Qatar.
He said he doesn't want a third government mixed up in a custody battle.
Further, he must have ironclad assurances that Nadeen will be able to spend three months a year with him, he said.
He said he has initiated contact with his ex-wife's family, having his attorney send her attorney a letter this week suggesting they talk about the future.
In the meantime, he has plans to enroll Nadeen in kindergarten and to begin to familiarize her with the American way of life.