The daughter of a Dutch multimillionaire accused of selling prohibited chemicals to Iraq in the 1980s was kidnapped from her home in Amsterdam last night by armed men. Claudia Melchers, 37, was at home with her two young children and a neighbour when the men burst in. The daughter of Hans Melchers, the Dutch chemicals magnate, her family is one of the wealthiest in the Netherlands, with an estimated personal fortune of €460m (£301m). The men bound and gagged the neighbour before abducting Ms Melchers, police in Amsterdam said. Their children, one of whom managed to untie the neighbour left, were not harmed.
Mr Melchers' company, Melchemie Holland BV has been at the centre of accusations of illegally supplying banned chemicals to Iraq, but has consistently denied intentionally violating export restrictions. A statement posted on the company web site acknowledged that gas which could have been used to make chemical weapons, was inadvertently included in a shipment which formed part of an export deal with Iraq in 1984. But the company say they recalled the shipment. It called the shipment "a one-time mistake" for which it paid a fine of 100,000 guilders (£30,000). In 1989 it was again under the media spotlight, again accused of supplying chemicals to Iraq. The company admits that it did so, but insists those chemicals were not under any international bans.
It was unclear whether the kidnapping was related to the company's dealings in the Middle East. A spokesman for the police in Amsterdam, Eric Vermeulen, would not reveal whether Interpol or the FBI were involved in the investigation, saying only: "We are doing everything that is necessary to find her." | Maybe just a kidnapping. Or not. |
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