THE HAGUE, 14/01/03 - The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) is reopening its investigation into the girl-friend of Volkert van der G., the man suspected of murdering politician Pim Fortuyn. The woman, Petra L., is believed to be a close friend of an environmental activist who pelted Fortuyn with pies last March.

During a press conference on 14 March, three environmental activists hit Fortuyn in the face with cakes said to contain excrement and vomit, though the precise contents still remain unclear. The incident was not considered very serious by the OM at the time. The perpetrators were only arrested on 7 May, one day after Fortuyn had been assassinated by a lone gunman in a Hilversum car-park. The activists were fined 500 euros each last October.

LPF MP Palm said last weekend he was informed by an acquaintance of one of the cake-throwers that this person, Pauline Van Tuyll Van Serooskerke, was a friend of Petra L. Marten Fortuyn, brother of the murdered LPF leader, confirmed he had requested the OM for the fresh investigation.

Earlier, the OM concluded that there was no link between the pie-throwers and environmental activist Van der G., who recently confessed to shooting and killing Fortuyn on 6 May, without the help of others. The Van den Haak commission, which conducted a months-long, exhaustive investigation into the murder of Fortuyn at the request of parliament, also concluded last month that there was no connection whatever.

The OM confirms it will look anew at the relationship between the pie-thrower and Petra L. A spokesman stressed however that there is no question of a new criminal investigation of her.

At the end of last year, the OM decided not to prosecute Petra L. on suspicion of carrying out preparations for arson or causing an explosion. The suspicion was based on chemicals found in the house she shared with Van der G. in Harderwijk, with which explosives could have been made. The case against Petra L. was dropped after an exonerating statement by Van der G.

Last week, LPF leader Mat Herben called the investigation of Van den Haak, the former president of the appeal court in The Hague, "A coverup". Journalist Theo van Gogh told Herben in his TV program that VVD leader Gerrit Zalm had let slip that the then Home Affairs Minister De Vries personally prevented Fortuyn receiving protection. Van den Haak concluded last month that De Vries should have offered Fortuyn protection, but the fact that he did not was due to misunderstandings.

Marten Fortuyn "does not understand anything about this any more. The Van den Haak commission ignored the links between the pie-throwers and Van der G., or considered them irrelevant," he complained.