International

America will not withdraw completely from Iraq, but will gradually reduce the number of its troops there. That is the most important conclusion of the report of the American Study Group on Iraq published yesterday. Commenting on the report, SP foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel described it as "too cautious, and insufficient. The Study Group should have pointed Bush towards the emergency exit, but has somehow missed it."

The government’s answers to eighty-one parliamentary questions on the alleged abuse of prisoners in Iraq provide little in the way of clarification, according to SP foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel. “That the Dutch intelligence services use controversial interrogation methods is indeed obvious,” said Mr Van Bommel, “but the Van den Berg Commission (which was responsible for investigating the country's involvement in Iraq) must make it clear whether Geneva Convention rules have been broken.” The SP Member of Parliament believes that, together with colleagues from all sides of the house, he has been subjected to unnecessary “information rationing”.