THE HAGUE, 01/03/06 - Development Cooperation Minister Agnes van Ardenne considers that "fundamentalist secularists" have abused the Danish cartoon question. She is thereby undermining the position of the Dutch government, in the view of the conservatives (VVD).

"Fundamentalist secularists" in the west are using the Islamic commotion about the cartoons on the prophet Mohammed to display "hostility against other cultures and religions" from behind "a facade of tolerance", according to Van Ardenne. She wrote these comments in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, published in London, under the heading: 'The cartoon crisis, a distorted picture'.

VVD MP Van Baalen is demanding a correction by the minister. "She must take these words back," he said yesterday. The VVD considers Van Ardenne's position in conflict with the earlier statements by Premier Jan Peter Balkenende and Foreign Minister Ben Bot regarding the cartoon question. Like Van Ardenne, they are Christian democrats (CDA).

In the Arabic newspaper, Van Ardenne termed the performance of the "fundamentalist secularists not only regrettable, but also intrinsically dangerous." "The secular inclination to treat religion with neglect or even denigratingly leads to alienation in place of reconciliation," according to the minister.

In a letter to parliament on the cartoon question last week, Bot termed freedom of speech a fundamental right which must not be tampered with. He got the EU as far on Monday as diluting an apology to the Muslim world on the Danish cartoons. In her article, Van Ardenne however writes that "exercising someone's freedom is not a goal in itself."