Spanish police locate 2 Dutch children allegedly kidnapped by their father

Spanish police have located two children whose father allegedly kidnapped them from his estranged wife in the Netherlands two years ago and told them their mother was dead, authorities said Monday.

Photo: Spanish police locate 2 Dutch children allegedly kidnapped by their father

The children an 8-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother are now in the custody of social workers in the southern Andalusian region.

Their Suriname-born father, identified only as Lucien Rajendra J., was arrested recently during a visit to Amsterdam, police said in a statement.

The children were later found living with a Moroccan woman in the town of Roquetas del Mar in southern Almeria province, reports AP.

The parents had separated and the mother was granted custody of the children. During a scheduled visit in July 2005 the man took them away. He told the children their mother had died of a disease, the Spanish police said.