A British mother has released a harrowing video of her daughter being kidnapped and bundled into a car in Libya as she battles to bring her abducted children home.
Tanya Borg’s two daughters were snatched by their father in 2015 and taken to Libya, where they have been held ever since by his conservative Islamic family.
Ms Borg, who was granted full custody by both British and Libyan courts, flew to Tripoli last May in a frantic attempt to rescue Angel who is now 20, and Maya, nine.
When Angel tried to flee to join her mother, she was intercepted by a gang of men, forced into a car and driven away. Neither sister has been seen since.
The dramatic footage shows Angel screaming for help before being shoved into the passenger seat of a battered Mercedes as her mother pleaded for mercy.
Ms Borg, from Wiltshire, then stood in front of the car to prevent it leaving before she was dragged away by thugs and the Mercedes sped away.
On returning to Britain, the preschool teacher showed the video to police but she could not persuade officers to investigate. ‘It’s unbearable,’ she told MailOnline. ‘The police are just shrugging their shoulders. I can’t get my girls back on my own.’
Tanya Borg, centre, and her daughters Angel, left, and Maya, right, who were abducted
Ms Borg, 41, is fighting for Wiltshire police to reopen her case, which they failed to investigate
Mohammed El Zubaidy, the girls’ father, left, and Khadija Ahmed Abdusallam, the girls’ grandmother, who is holding them in Libya, right
The shocking footage, handed exclusively to MailOnline, will put British authorities under renewed pressure to reopen the case.
When questioned, Wiltshire police said that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had advised them not to pursue the case in 2018, and that the police was still acting on that basis.
But the CPS said that the police had not provided a ‘full file of material’ to allow a proper charging decision to be made, and that the 2018 advice was only ‘early investigative advice’.
Speaking from her home in Wiltshire, Ms Borg, 41, said: ‘It feels like the police top brass just aren’t taking my case seriously.
‘My girls have been in Libya for five years and I have been granted full custody in both Britain and Libya.
‘Both the girls are forced to wear a hijab, even Maya who is only eight. They are being treated really badly and have no quality of life. They both miss their mum.
‘All that needs to happen is for police officers to take the girls away from their grandmother and return them home to Britain.
‘With enough willpower, surely this would be possible. British officials could pressurise the Libyans to help. But nobody wants to know. The police have closed the case.’
She added: ‘The video shows that my kids are being kept against their will. My older daughter is 20 and she should be free to live her own life.
‘Instead she is kept prisoner. She is not allowed out by herself and isn’t even allowed to cook. She hasn’t had any kind of life. It is heartbreaking.
‘My younger daughter was only three when she was abducted and she has adapted, but she needs her mummy and she’s very mixed up.
‘Why is the police not acting? Why does nobody care? These are missing people. They are British citizens kidnapped overseas, and they are being abandoned. It doesn’t make any sense.’
A still from the video, in which Angel, circled, is bundled into a car and driven away
Angel, left, and Maya, right, have been held in Libya by her father’s family since 2015
Maya, nine, is the only girl wearing a hijab in this school photograph taken in Libya
Ms Borg is trying to pressurise the British authorities to investigate the case and being her daughters, who have been held in Libya for five years, home to Britain
Mohammed El Zubaidy, the girls’ father, left, and Tanya Borg flanked by Angel and Maya, right
The five-year ordeal began when Ms Borg’s Libyan-born husband, Mohammed El Zubaidy, 41, took their three children – the two girls and their brother Malik – to Tunisia on holiday in 2015.
Once there, however, he secretly took them across the border into Libya to live with his devout Muslim family and ignored Ms Borg’s pleas to bring them home.
The children were placed in the care of their strictly Islamic grandmother, Khadija Ahmed Abdusallam, who forced them to call her ‘mother’.
A year later, Mr El Zubaidy returned to Britain with their son and left him with his mother. But he refused to return their daughters, in defiance of a High Court order which granted Ms Borg full custody.
As a result, he was handed two consecutive jail terms. Now free and living in London, he continues to refuse to cooperate in returning Angel and Maya to Britain.
Khadija Ahmed Abdusallam, the girls’ grandmother, who is holding them in Libya
In 2018, the CPS advised police not to bring charges against Mr El Zubaidy.
According to documents from the time, the CPS said it ‘would not accomplish anything’ and queried whether it was a case of abduction or ‘substantial delays in returning [the children]’.
But the advice was not based on a full file of evidence, and was intended only as initial guidance.
Moreover, the CPS only considered whether to charge Mr El Zubaidy, not whether to try to take the children back from their grandmother.
There was also no advice on whether Interpol should be involved.
A CPS spokesman explained: ‘In 2018, the CPS provided early investigative advice to Wiltshire Police.
‘We did not receive a full file of material for a charging decision, which is when we will consider if there is sufficient evidence to charge a criminal offence and if is in the public interest to do so.’
Wiltshire police has consistently refused to investigate the apparent abduction, offering only ‘support and assistance’ as Ms Borg endured the living nightmare of having her children taken away from her.
Ms Borg has now launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise the money to rescue her daughters herself.
The preschool teacher said: ‘If I had £100,000 I could have got them back five years ago. I could have paid for private detectives.
‘I’ve gone through the court and everything but I’m skint. I’ve got nothing, I’ve got no money, I can’t fight this on my own. I need help. My children need help.
‘My oldest daughter’s locked in the house. She’s going to be 21 next year and she’s had no life. Other people in Libya do normal things, go to college, go to school. She’s not allowed to do any of that.
‘My younger one was going to school as she doesn’t know anything different, she’s just adapting. I’m worried that she’s going to end up forgetting me.’
Ms Borg first met Mr El Zubaidy when she was 18 in Malta, where the pair were living and working. She is half-Maltese on her father’s side. They were married in 2000.
Before the abduction, Ms Borg and 41-year-old Mr El Zubaidy, a factory worker, lived a comfortable life in Pewsey, Wiltshire and had three children.
As the children got older, Mr El Zubaidy became increasingly controlling and keen for them to live according to Islamic cultural traditions, Ms Borg said.
The mother-of-three has made numerous requests to the Foreign Office for assistance. But the British Embassy in Libya closed in 2015 as the country descended into civil war.
A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: ‘An investigation in 2018 resulted in no further action being taken in relation to this matter, following CPS advice.
‘We understand and sympathise with Ms Borg’s situation and the distress she has been going through. However, the civil case for custody has been dealt with by the High Court, and, at this stage, there is no ongoing Wiltshire Police investigation.’
A Foreign Office spokesman added: ‘We are in contact with the mother of two British children in Libya and her solicitor. This is a complex case and we are providing support where we can. However, our consular operations remain suspended in Libya due to the volatile security situation.’
To donate to Tanya Borg’s crowdfunding appeal, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/tzjsh-help-me-get-my-girls-home