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Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP
A father who is said to have kidnapped his two children in Hamburg around eight months ago and initially brought them to Spain has been caught in Portugal.
The 44-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday in Caldas da Rainha - about 80 kilometers north of Lisbon - said the Spanish police.
The two ten and eleven year old children were safe and "in the best of health," it said.
The Portuguese police confirmed the arrest on request.
The man is said to have kidnapped his two children in Hamburg in December and, according to official findings, stayed with them for months on the Spanish Atlantic island of Tenerife.
The whereabouts of the three were no secret for a long time.
Among other things, there were photos taken by bank cameras.
According to the Spanish authorities, the man even complied with a summons from the youth judge on the Canary Island.
At the end of June, however, he allowed a deadline for handing over the children to pass.
He then went into hiding in the summer until he was arrested in Portugal.
Mother looked for her children with leaflets
After her children disappeared again, the mother recently flew to Tenerife, distributed leaflets there and also filed a complaint with the Spanish police.
Thereupon an international manhunt was started for the man.
In an interview published by »Bild« last week, the 37-year-old mother said: »It tears my heart apart.
But I keep looking, don't give up.
Fight. "
The woman said she met her children's father in 2009.
After a few years, however, the relationship broke up.
She was given sole custody in 2014, and her husband was granted 14 days of access.
ptz / dpa
