The World : Ex-Belgian Leader Freed

Former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, kidnaped a month ago, was freed after his family paid a ransom of hundreds of thousands of dollars, officials said. Vanden Boeynants, 69, took a taxi home and called police after being released by his kidnapers in Tournai, 46 miles southwest of Brussels. Authorities said he was handcuffed on a bed and guarded by hooded men after being kidnaped Jan. 14 but was not otherwise mistreated. Vanden Boeynants, prime minister from 1966-68 and in 1978-79, was convicted of tax fraud and forgery in 1986 and was abducted only days before a parliamentary panel was to investigate other charges. However, the panel later dismissed the charges. Officials said the kidnapers had no political motives.