Adam Whittington, the chief planner of the botched child-retrieval operation in Beirut, has disputed claims that those being detained over the incident are being treated well in detention.

Mr Whittington is in Baabda detention centre, sharing an underground cell designed for a single person with the 60 Minutes crew Stephen Rice, David Ballment and Ben Williamson.

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Another member of the child recovery team, Craig Michael, had also been in the cell but is now in hospital under guard.

60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown and her crew were arrested in Beirut on April 7.

The crew and Australian mother Sally Faulkner remain in jail, facing kidnapping charges after they allegedly tried to retrieve children, five year old Lahela and three year old Noah, from their father and Ms Faulkner’s estranged husband Ali Elamine.

Mr Whittington has told Newscorp the cell conditions are appalling.

“The rats are as big as cats, it is so small we can’t move, and the toilet in the ground is blocked,” he said.

The detainees are being supplied food by the Nine Network and Mr Whittington’s lawyer.

“If it wasn’t for that we would be starving, because you get pita bread once a day and a meal only every three days,’’ Mr Whittington said.