Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull remains tight-lipped over a 60 Minutes crew locked up in Lebanon over a bungled child snatch, as they wait to find out if they’ll be charged.

The government is offering consular assistance to Nine Network crew, including senior journalist Tara Brown, a producer and a cameraman, who have been held since Thursday for filming the alleged kidnapping of two children.

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“We are seeking through the usual diplomatic channels to ensure that they are kept safe and will be able to return,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.

“But you have to understand that in situations like these, often the less I say, the better it is for the people that are at risk or in these difficult circumstances overseas.”

PM: reluctant to interfere. AAP.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has spoken to her Lebanese counterpart and says she expects the question of charges will be determined soon.

Sally Faulkner, the Australian mother of the children, aged two and five, has also been detained by local police following the snatch on a busy Beirut street by an international child recovery agency.

The children are back with their Lebanese father, Ali el Amien, who says he won’t press charges against their mother.

Ms Faulkner, from Brisbane, claims her ex-husband refused to return the children to Australia after taking them on a holiday to Beirut last year.

The Nine Network has not commented on reports it paid more than $100,000 for the recovery operation.

Nine says it is working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and authorities to support its crew and assist in every way possible to bring them home.

Fairfax reports Ms Faulkner left her new husband, Brendan Pierce, and three-month-old baby to travel to Lebanon to recover the children.