IT LOOKS LIKE RIFQA BARY WILL NOT BE FORCED TO RETURN TO PARENTS

Atlas Shrugs reports what we must hope is relieving news, that Rifqa Bary will remain in foster care until her 18th. In this article from Meredith "hijabed" Heagney:

The long legal dispute over runaway teen convert Fathima Rifqa Bary apparently ended in Franklin County Juvenile Court late this afternoon when the girl and her parents agreed that she'll stay in the custody of Children Services and the family will try to resolve their issues with counseling.

That leaves two options for Rifqa, who is in foster care: She could eventually reconcile with her parents and go home or stay in foster care until her 18th birthday on Aug. 10.

Rifqa admitted she was unruly when she fled her parents' home last July to live with a Christian pastor and his family in Florida. She said at the time that her father, Mohamed, had threatened to kill her for abandoning the family's Muslim faith, although authorities say they never found credible evidence that that was true.

Mohamed and Aysha Bary and their daughter all agreed today not to continue with the Juvenile Court dependency case. The next hearing, besides a minor hearing regarding a gag order on Monday, is set for her birthday.

Today's decision ends months of legal action in Florida and Ohio.

In a statement read by Rifqa's attorneys, both she and her parents said they loved each other and believe counseling is the best route.

It's not great that she had to "plea bargain", but I suppose it's the best choice for now.

Pamela Geller's correspondent, legal expert John Jay, says that nobody can know for sure what the outcome is until the official court papers are obtained. So we still need to hope that all has turned out sufficiently okay.

I would assume that the court understood the controversy of the whole issue, and didn't want to be held responsible for endangering Rifqa's life by returning her to the custody of her parents. And, maybe they also realized that the rally planned if there's to be another hearing at the date that was supposed to be the 28th of January could also raise more attention and/or controversy that they'd rather avoid. But if they've made a fair enough offering for Rifqa now, that's a good thing, and they'll be doing right to ensure her safety.

Update: better take note of this important info provided by the Jawa Report. There's still some very serious problems involved, like CAIR's knowledge of her foster home; that's why her attorneys want her moved to another one.