A weekly newspaper has won a High Court fight to name a seven-year-old boy who was “abducted” by his father and taken to Saudi Arabia.

The Warrington Guardian has succeeded in a legal challenge to name Ibrahim Faraj, who has been missing since November 2022.

Ibrhahim’s father Hamzah Faraj took him to Saudi Arabia against the wishes of his mother Ranem Elkhalidi – in breach of a court order – but the Guardian had been unable to name any of the parties or reveal the country to which he had been taken due to a court order.

Reporter Michael Slavin, pictured, has worked on the case since Ibrahim’s disappearance to his father’s homeland.

Ms Elkhalidi, who is originally from Palestine, married her husband when she was 16 and he was 24. Their marriage hit trouble when they moved to the UK in 2014, before breaking down completely in 2022.

Due to the fact Saudi Arabia does not have any extradition treaty with the UK, police are not able to arrest Mr Faraj.

Guardian editor Richard Duggan told HTFP: “Reporter Michael Slavin has been working on this case for many months now since he first made contact with Ranem before Christmas.

“Together with MP Mike Amesbury and Ranem, we have been exploring ways to be able to name and use the picture of Ibrahim to help bring him back to the UK.

“He has been missing for more than six months with no contact between his dad and mum for most of that time. The High Court agreed this week to remove the ban on naming Ibrahim and agreed his picture could be released

“Police have also given a statement to update on their efforts to bring Ibrahim back to his mum. We really hope this extra publicity can bring a happy resolution to this extremely sad case.”