Riyadh, Oct 20 (IANS): An American woman has been allowed to file for divorce from her Saudi husband via e-mail after the man left the US with her three kids and prevented her from seeing them.

The judge at an American court agreed to the request made by the woman after she proved that she could no longer communicate with him in any other way, Arab News reported.

An arrest warrant has been issued against the man for kidnapping the children and refusing to return to the country, which is a violation of the custody rights previously granted to the mother, in addition to failing to attend a hearing in the matter.

Jessica, who filed for divorce last April, said that they have been married since June 2004.

"I am tired of being married to a person who took my kids from me and continues to deprive me of seeing them, while doing everything in his power to make our lives miserable," she said.

The husband was a master's degree student at the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and left the country Nov 24 last year with his children, nine-year-old Mohammed, seven-year-old Ibrahim, and five-year-old Ilyas, after the court granted them approval to visit their father.

The court saw evidence confirming that he had received official documents via e-mail before.