World : Ransom Asked in Belgian Kidnaping

BRUSSELS —  A previously unknown group claiming to hold a former prime minister today issued a ransom demand and threatened to kill him.

The daily Le Soir received a letter from the Revolutionary Socialists Brigade asking for a ransom of between $525,000 and $790,000 for former Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, officials said. They said the letter called Vanden Boeynants, a 69-year-old Christian Democrat who disappeared outside his home Saturday, “a representative of conservative capitalism.” Earlier, a man claiming to speak for the previously unknown group called Le Soir and said Vanden Boeynants “will only be seen back in small pieces.”