Aruban police head allegedly shielded pal

ORANJESTAD, Aruba, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The Aruban justice minister charged Thursday that the police commissioner stalled an investigation into a U.S. teen's disappearance.

The minister, Rudy Croes, said the commissioner, Jan van der Straten, was concerned because the lead suspect was the son of a friend, Radio Netherlands reported.

Natalee Holloway came to Aruba with other members of the senior class at a high school in the suburbs of Birmingham, Ala., on a class trip in 2005. She vanished after leaving a bar.

Joran van der Sloot has been arrested twice in the case and released both times. In December 2007, the prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to charge anyone and declared the case closed.

Aruba, a former colony of the Netherlands, is a separate country under the Dutch crown. Croes also accused Dutch officials of not giving adequate support to the investigation in Aruba.

Paulus van der Sloot, Joran's father, was working for the Justice Ministry at the time of Holloway's disappearance.