Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq 

    BRUSSELS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Dutch government has been embarrassed by the leaking of a document dating from 2003 in which lawyers of the Foreign Ministry concluded that there was no proper legal basis for the Dutch political support for the Iraq war, Dutch daily De Volkskrant reported Monday.

    Dutch paper NRC Handelsblad revealed on Saturday that the Foreign Ministry's former Secretary General Frank Majoor, who is now the permanent representative at the United Nations, consciously withheld a critical document from then Foreign Minister Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.

    According to the secret memorandum dated April 29, 2003, the legal justification for the Balkenende government's position was "both materially and procedurally defective."

    The lawyers also said that "the Netherlands would lose any proceedings on the question before the International Court of Justice."

    However, a handwritten note on the memo says "File safely in the archives for posterity, the discussion is closed for the moment!"

    The Netherlands did not send troops to Iraq in 2003 but gave political support to the United States' invasion of the country, which was not sanctioned by the United Nations. The Dutch government then justified its decision by saying a UN resolution was "politically desirable but not essential."

    The new revelation rekindled talks of a possible parliamentary inquiry into the circumstances which led to the Netherlands' decision to support the Iraq war. Some opposition parties, including the Social Party and the D66, are again calling for a parliamentary probe into the issue.

    The Labor Party and the Christian Union, two of the three ruling parties, said it was shocking that senior officials did not pass on the important document to the foreign minister. The opposition Liberals are demanding an explanation from Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen.

    Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who was also prime minister in 2003, has been vehemently opposed to an inquiry into the matter. In the past six years the Dutch parliament turned down some 10 motions calling for a debate on the issue.

    Balkenende's party, the Christian Democratic Alliance, has been the biggest party in the parliament but has not held a majority.

    On Sunday, Balkenende said he had asked for further information about the revelations but that he still does not support calls for a parliamentary inquiry.

    The Foreign Ministry would not say why the secretary general did not forward the memo to the foreign minister and whether De Hoop Scheffer was informed verbally of its contents at the time.

    According to an opinion poll by Dutch pollster TNS Nipo, some 58 percent of the Dutch population back a parliamentary inquiry into events surrounding Dutch support for the Iraq war.