The British community has been keenly following the heartbreaking case of the British mother whose son was abducted in Qatar.
Tricked into signing a custody form, she has now lost her young son to the family of her deceased husband.
One friend, who has lived in the Gulf for many years, tells me that the British embassy often warn British nationals seeking to get married of the possible consequences of divorce.
"You realise that if you ever separate, you may never see your child again," is the stark warning he said British nationals were given.
Unfortunately, when you are young and in love you are generally prepared to risk the consequences - if you can envision there will ever be any.
This case was slightly different, of course - it was not even the father claiming custody, but his family. Specifically, I believe, his grandmother.
Now one Qatari, though not wholly unsympathetic, writes:
"I think the mother is to be blamed. She was married to a Qatari for god sake. She knows our laws. She knew that they might take him."
You've been warned!
