The World - News from May 29, 1989

Brazilian police arrested a man who said he kidnaped and collected $1.5 million in ransom on former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, who was freed in Belgium in February after being held for a month. Police, acting on a request from Belgian officials, seized Patrick Haemers, 37, his wife, and a suspected accomplice, but two more suspected gang members are still on the run, a police spokesman said in Rio de Janeiro. Haemers said that he decided to kidnap Vanden Boeynants after robbing banks and armored cash trucks became too dangerous. He denied any political motive.