International

'Whether it is because or in spite of all of the protests of the past history will decide, but we appear to be in agreement over one thing: the old NATO is disappearing and a new NATO is revealing itself. We are, however, unable to see clearly just what form the warp and weft of the new world-wide security system will take. If we want to avoid a situation in which public and parliament are presented, in the near future, with a fait accompli, we must decide together what sort of regional and global structures of security are desirable."

The SP is seeking clarification from Defence Minister Henk Kamp concerning reports in leading daily NRC Handelsblad to the effect that Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan have handed suspected terrorists over to the US army on more occasions than have been made public. SP foreign affairs spokesman and Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has the impression that elected representatives are being fed insufficient and incomplete information by the minister, with whom the SP is seeking a debate.