THE HAGUE, 29/04/06 - Iran tried last year to secretly obtain expertise in the Netherlands on weapons of mass destruction. The secret service AIVD has observed "certain activity" in this area, disclosed AIVD chief S. van Hulst on Friday.

Van Hulst was presenting the AIVD annual report. He said Iran was one of a number of countries of concern, that are looking for knowledge and technology on weapons of mass destruction. The annual report also expresses concern regarding the intentions of risk countries including Libya, North Korea, Pakistan and Syria. The AIVD believes Pakistan and North Korea want to have long-range ballistic missiles.

Espionage seems to be increasing and also involves countries such as China and Russia. Foreign powers try to influence civil servants and staff of multinationals and station students at Dutch universities to gather intelligence, said Van Hulst. The AIVD has issued a brochure warning the government and private sector on possible espionage within their organisation.

The AIVD said it last year prevented a number of cases of espionage by providing the Economic Affairs Ministry with negative recommendations on export permit applications. Van Hulst declined to say how many and which companies were involved and whether any suspects of espionage had been expelled from the country.