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Boy With Brain Tumor Ashya: Prosecutors Drop Arrest Warrant for Parents

British prosecutors are seeking to withdraw a European arrest warrant against the parents of five-year-old brain tumor patient Ashya King.
Image: An undated picture of five-year-old Ashya King
An undated picture of five-year-old Ashya King. British and French authorities were racing against the clock on August 29, 2014 to find a five-year-boy with a brain tumour who officials in France believe was "kidnapped" from hospital by his family. Ashya King's parents took him from a hospital in Southampton, southern England, on August 28 without doctors' consent and boarded a ferry to the French port of Cherbourg the same day, a British police spokesman said. Hampshire Police via AFP - Getty Images

British prosecutors are seeking to withdraw a European arrest warrant against the parents of five-year-old brain tumor patient Ashya King, ITV News reported. The move means Brett and Naghemeh King could soon be released from custody in the Spanish capital, Madrid, and reunited with their son who is in a hospital 300 miles away in Malaga. The move comes amid growing outrage over the treatment of the family, including from Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The police chief handling the case also wrote a letter to British prosecutors saying the current situation was "not right."

Prosecutors went to the High Court in London Tuesday to ask for the warrant - which triggered Spanish police to keep the couple in jail - to be withdrawn. The pair sparked an international search after taking Ashya from a British hospital - against the advice of doctors - because the facility would not allow their son to have proton beam therapy. They were arrested in Spain and threatened with extradition.

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