THE HAGUE, 16/08/08 - Wijnand Duyvendak has resigned as MP. His position became untenable following the disclosure that he was involved with an attempt to set fire to the home of top civil servant George Verberg. But attempts to rehabilitate Duyvendak have already begun.

Leftwing Green (GroenLinks) leader Femke Halsema has accepted Duyvendak's decision to resign "with pain in my heart." She stressed that she found him a politician of "integrity."

Halsema suggested that Duyvendak would return again to the Lower House after the next elections. "I am not responsible for the candidates committee, but I cannot imagine that GroenLinks has no place for people that give such an account of their past."

Halsema was referring to Duyvendak's disclosure two weeks ago that he was one of the perpetrators of a break-in to the economic affairs ministry in 1985. The confession was in a press release that his publisher issued to attract publicity for an autobiography by Duyvendak, due to appear on 20 August. But the publicity it attracted was not the kind he had expected.

Led by De Telegraaf, the pressure on Duyvendak mounted. Remarkably, the leftwing newspapers did not spare 'their' GroenLinks either. Thus, De Volkskrant last week described the party as a rehabilitation centre for political delinquents. And it was reporting in NRC Handelsblad - arguably the most leftwing paper - that eventually compelled Duyvendak to resign.

On Thursday, the then director-general of energy policy at the economic affairs ministry, George Verberg, revealed that activists tried to set fire to his house in 1985. This happened following a call by anarchists' magazine Bluf, of which Duyvendak was chief editor, to "disturb the peace of these trouble-makers". This was a reference to six civil servants whose stolen personal details were published n Bluf.

In NRC Handeslbad, Verberg published a copy of a letter that he sent to Duyvendak on Thursday. In it, the former top civil servant stated: "Your call to terrorise me was successful. An arson attempt on my home was made by shoving rags drenched in petrol and set on fire through my front door. Luckily, we had a tile floor".

On Thursday evening, Duyvendak announced in a press conference that he was resigning his Lower House seat. He acknowledged responsibility for the Bluf article. Duyvendak however claimed he did not previously know that his call had led to any violence.

Duyvendak has for years been linked with extreme left terrorism, but the mass media consistently refused to make big news of this until two weeks ago, when the 51 year old MP himself confessed to having been one of the perpetrators of the break-in to the economic affairs ministry in 1985.

For De Telegraaf, the Duyvendak question is not yet over. The newspaper, the biggest in the Netherlands, again published a big article about his past on Friday. In it, intelligence services sources say he was a leader of the never unmasked extreme left terrorist group RaRa. The male members made cocktails of their semen, which they used to have the female members give birth to children belonging to the community, the newspaper claimed.

RaRa was believed to be responsible for the 1998 bombing attack on the house of the then State Secretary for Asylum Affairs Aad Kosto. The fires that burned several branches of retail concern Makro to ashes were also attributed to RaRa. Makro operated at the time in South Africa, when the apartheid regime was in force. Some say RaRa was also involved in the 1986 bombing attack on the hotel room of extreme right politician Hans Janmaat, which injured his wife so severely that she lost the ability to walk.

In view of the seriousness of the facts and suspicions against Duyvendak, his political career now appears to be over. But De Volkskrant, earlier this week still very critical in an editorial comment, appeared to have substantially backtracked on Friday. NRC Handelsblad was also suddenly milder-toned following Duyvendak's departure.

De Volkskrant praised Duyvendak Friday as "an excellent MP" and a sharp debater. "He knew his dossiers extremely well, and was regularly able to give ministers a hard time. But (...) with some regularity, stories appeared about his role within the squatters movement - in which the name of terrorist group RaRa often surfaced to his frustration."

NRC Handelsblad also now defends Duyvendak. His confession of having been a burglar was "a democratic sound". It should not have to be punished by his resignation, the newspaper suggested. "Because for him it was actually a matter of rendering an account with his past; his progressive insight that politics is the best way to change things."

NRC Handelsblad also does not doubt Duyvendak's claim that he knew nothing about the arson attack on Verberg's house. "This, he did not know and has never known."

For party leader Halsema, Duyvendak is already largely absolved of all blame. "The Wijnand of that time was a completely different person from the Wijnand of today."

DWARS, the youth branch of GroenLinks, put it even stronger. They consider the resignation of the MP downright unnecessary. "The actions he carried out in the 1980s as environmental activist are no reason in themselves for him to resign." He simply "wanted to serve a social purpose."

GroenLinks MEP Joost Lagendijk also considers Duyvendak has been judged too harshly. "I myself, like many other GroenLinksers, was involved in the squatting movement in the 1980s. Squatting is breaking in. But does that mean everything that is outside the law is also unacceptable? I do not think so."

There are also many ex-squatters and anarchists among the Labour (PvdA) and the Socialist Party (SP) MPs, according to Langendijk. Independent journalist Peter Siebelt, an expert on leftwing activism, confirmed this. He says six of the 150 MPs have criminal records.