Fakhoury Daughters Start Foundation for Helping Families of U.S. Hostages

Amer Fakhoury's four daughters, who started a foundation in the name of their late father, are reaching out to help the families of U.S. hostages and were invited to share their story in Washington.

Fakhoury was an ex-member of the pro-Israel South Lebanon Army militia who was jailed for several months in Lebanon over decades-old murder and torture charges that he and his family always denied. His release in 2020 and his eventual travel to the U.S. in mysterious circumstances sparked controversy in Lebanon.

Witnesses had accused Fakhoury of ordering or taking part in beatings of thousands of inmates at the notorious Khiyam Prison.

The goal of the Amer Fakhoury Foundation is to be a support network for families of U.S. hostages to "amplify their voice, share their story with as many people as we can, and help them financially," Zoya Fakhoury, one of the four daughters, told The Associated Press in an interview.

The daughters returned from a visit Thursday to Washington, where they met with State Department officials and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who had worked with New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen on a bill to ban visas and freeze assets of Lebanese officials involved in Fakhoury's detention in Lebanon.

"We saw our dad when he came back, how difficult it was for him to even function," daughter Guila Fakhoury said. "He would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. So, the recovery is very important with hostages."

Through fundraisers and donations, the nearly 7-month-old foundation has assisted the family of Jamshid Sharmahd, of Glendora, California, who was detained by Iran while staying in Dubai last year. He is accused of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200 others, and plotting other assaults. His family denies the allegations.

The foundation also is helping the family of Paul Whelan, a former corporate security executive from Novi, Michigan, who was arrested in Moscow in 2018. His lawyer said Whelan was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didn't know about. Whelan was convicted in June and sentenced to 16 years in prison.