AMSTERDAM, 21/01/04 - Rob Oudkerk said a brief farewell to the Amsterdam city council executive yesterday. Labour (PvdA) Mayor Job Cohen saw off his fellow party member with many praises.

Cohen called Oudkerk a colourful figure who stirred up political debate. The years in which he had worked with the education and integration alderman had always been outstanding on a personal level. "In a business context, we had our ups and downs, but the collaboration was always good in this area, too," Cohen declared.

Oudkerk decided to resign on Monday night after marathon talks with the PvdA councillors who eventually withdrew their confidence in him. His position had become untenable, Cohen admitted yesterday. PvdA parliamentary leader Wouter Bos spoke similar words.

In the mayor's view, the affair had damaged Oudkerk and the city council, but also the media. "Facts and fiction became tangled up," said Cohen, who again stressed that Oudkerk did not take cocaine. He therefore implicitly called columnist Heleen van Royen a liar, as she claims the alderman admitted his drug habits to her.

Oudkerk has confessed that he told Van Royen about his visits to pornography websites and prostitutes. He yesterday said he had greatly enjoyed being an alderman and regretted that this had to come to an end. Who will succeed him is unclear.

Prostitutes' trade union De Rode Draad considers the whole affair childish. "People under heavy pressure need prostitutes to let off steam. If I were to reveal everything that has happened in Amsterdam, there would be a substantial number of jobs vacant." Daily newspaper De Telegraaf has suggested that Oudkerk visited brothels "with fellow party members."