The World - News from March 29, 1989

The Guatemalan government said that it hopes to reach a negotiated solution with armed inmates who have been holding 532 hostages--many of them willing captives--since Sunday at a maximum security prison near Guatemala City. Four inmates and four prison guards were killed in a gun battle Sunday during an attempted prison break that also left about 50 injured. Prison officials said the hostages, mostly women and children, were either friends or relatives of the prison inmates. They were allowed into the prison for an Easter visit, and most remained inside at their own choice.