'Nato chief has Iraq invasion support to thank for position'

Members of parliament in the Netherlands want the government to clarify statements recently made by Richard Armitage, the former US deputy secretary of state, about the appointment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as secretary general of Nato in 2004.

Armitage told the Dutch regional press agency GPD that the political support the Netherlands gave to the US for the Iraq invasion helped in the later naming of De Hoop Scheffer, then the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, to head up Nato. Armitage, who worked under Colin Powell from 2001 until 2005, played a key role in 2003 convincing allies to join the US in its invasion.

His controversial remarks come at a time of revived political debate about the Dutch support of that war. Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende is under growing pressure to allow an inquiry into the reasoning behind the support. Confidential documents published by NRC Handelsblad show that lawyers within the ministry of foreign affairs disputed the "sufficient legal grounds" the government claimed existed – including that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions.

The Netherlands did not send troops to Iraq and the government insists that it never received a formal request from the US to get involved militarily. However, Armitage, according to reports, said that the US had only been interested in military support from the Dutch government in 2003 and this had "absolutely" been requested. He said that the US sent both diplomats and documents outlining the case for invasion to the Netherlands. He said this constituted, in his view, a request for support.

In the interview, Armitage said the political support was appreciated enough to prevent sanctions against the Netherlands for the increasing amount of human trafficking cases from the Netherlands to the US and to help get Jaap de Hoop Scheffer appointed as Nato's chief.