Investigative Judge Rami Abdullah has ordered Brisbane Mother Sally Faulkner to reach an agreement with her estranged husband and father of their two children  Ali Elamine, which could assist the 60 Minutes crew, ABC Middle East correspondent Matt Brown reported.

Handcuffed and heads bowed, Brown and Ms Faulkner entered the Judge's office in the Badba Palace of Justice to face charges over the botched recovery of the Brisbane mother's children.

Wearing black, Brown entered the courtroom, looking thin and distracted accompanied by her lawyer Kamal Abo Daher.

She was the first of the 60 Minutes crew to be interrogated by Judge Abdullah.

Producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment were next to be brought before the judge, all cuffed together, according to ABC Middle East correspondent Matt Brown. 

Rest of the @60Mins crew brought up for questioning. All cuffed together— Matt Brown (@abcmatt) April 13, 2016

Channel Nine reporter Tom Steinfort said the crew were facing four charges:

• hiding information
• forming an association with two or more people to commit a crime against a person
• kidnapping or holding a minor even with their approval
• physical assault

If convicted they face jail terms of three to 20 years.

They are among nine people reportedly under investigation in the case: two British, two Lebanese and five Australians.

Judge Abdullah will decide whether to uphold or dismiss thee charges.

The crew will rigorously fight the charges, according to Channel Nine management.

A spokeswoman for Channel Nine said the network was co-operating fully with the Lebanese authorities.

It will be some days before the crew are interviewed by the judge, which will be their first chance to defend the charges, the Channel Nine spokeswoman said in a statement.

Journalists were forced to delete all photos and videos on their devices before being led into the court room.

@60mins Journalist's telephones confiscated by security as Tara Brown and motherSally Armstrong are lead past media handcuffed together.— Aaron Hollett (@AaronHollett) April 13, 2016

The Australian ambassador to Lebanon visited Minister Bassil , who is expected to make a statement about the case.

The attempted child recovery operation in downtown Beirut has become a diplomatic incident and a public relations disaster for Channel Nine.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addressed the charges earlier on Wednesday.

"We respect the Lebanese legal system and their right to investigate and take proceedings if they feel offences have been committed," he said.

"But we support Australians who find themselves in these difficulties and these circumstances right around the world and of course we're doing that with respect to the 60 Minutes crew in Beirut at the moment," he said.

Ms Faulkner, 29, a former air hostess, had travelled to Lebanon to try to recover her two children Lahala, six, and Noah, four, from their father Mr Elamine, a Beirut surf business owner.

Mr Elamine was alleged to have failed to return their children to Australia as promised after a holiday in Lebanon.

Mr Elamine told the media on Tuesday that the children are "in good health and that is what matters", and that it was rough for the children but he had calmed them down.

He stressed that "children should not have been dragged into this situation".

On Wednesday last week, local time, a car containing employees of British-based firm Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) and Ms Faulkner had allegedly driven near a bus stop in South Beirut where Mr Elamine's mother and a nanny were walking the two young children.

Two CARI agents allegedly got out of the the car and grabbed the children from the arms of the women, while a third passenger appeared to be video recording the incident, according to grainy security camera video captured by a CCTV camera at a nearby shop.

When one of the women appeared to fight back, she was pushed away from the vehicle, which then sped off.

Inside the car, Ms Faulkner was reunited with her children and dropped off at another location.

More to come. 

-With Suzan Haidamous