THE HAGUE, 30/01/01 - Prime Minister Wim Kok does not intend to meet Jorge Zorreguieta to discuss the commotion in the Netherlands about Zorreguieta's past. Kok does not wish to make any statement before an engagement has been announced between Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Zorreguieta's daughter Maxima.

"I do not know Zorreguieta", Kok said last weekend. "And I have my own ways of reaching a verdict on what happened in the past in Argentina. "

Last week, Labour (PvdA) MP Noorman-den Uyl declared that there was no place in the Netherlands for the father of Maxima Zorreguieta. She said that, as a minister during the Videla regime, he was a full accessory to the human rights violations in Argentina. PvdA parliamentary spokesman Rehwinkel later backed Noorman's position.

Noorman also stated that her opinion was shared by PvdA parliamentary leader Ad Melkert and Prime Minister Kok (also PvdA). The premier said last weekend that he had not been informed in advance of the position of Noorman and Rehwinkel.