Amsterdam's mayor, who has been gravely ill for several months, has officially stepped down from office, prompting an outpouring of grief and admiration in the Netherlands.

Eberhard Van der Laan, who was diagnosed with metastasised lung cancer, said in a letter on Monday that all options of treatment were exhausted and that he could no longer fulfil his duties.

"Your support has helped me enormously," he said. "It was a great privilege to be the mayor of the prettiest and dearest city in the world."

He went on to thank Amsterdam's citizens for placing their trust in him for the past seven years and for working with him in times of "both agreement and objection".

Van der Laan, considered by many as the most popular Dutch politician in recent years, is known for his no-nonsense approach in local politics, which earned him an ever-increasing fan base in the Netherlands.

Many used #VanderLaan on Twitter to express their support for the Labour Party politician, while Dutch media called the mayor a "folk hero".

Prime Minister Mark Rutte reacted on Twitter, calling it "very sad news," and expressing "admiration for his courage and openness".

Rutte added that the whole country "empathises with him and his family".

In 2013, Van der Laan, a heavy smoker, was also treated for prostate cancer.

He was given a 7.7 score on his job performance in 2015, a particularly high score, according to daily newspaper De Volkskrant.

On Facebook, people called for a public round of applause at his mayoral residence on Wednesday.

This summer, Van der Laan, 62, appeared in a wide-ranging TV interview that drew over a million viewers, who watched the live broadcast in bars and theatres across the city.

The host of the programme asked what the mayor hoped would be his legacy in the Dutch capital.

"That it remains the kind city it is," he said, while fighting tears. </s> AMSTERDAM: A leading member of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's cabinet resigned on Thursday, weakening the government ahead of a national election in March in which it is trailing in the polls.

Justice Minister Ard van der Steur unexpectedly told parliament he would step down amid a debate over the handling of information relating to a settlement prosecutors struck with a drug dealer in 2000.

The affair centres around a settlement with drug baron Cees Helman, who received a tax free payment of around 2 million euros as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

Van der Steur and Rutte have come under fire from opposition lawmakers who accuse them of withholding information and had been expected to call a motion of no confidence later in the debate. The minister took the rare step of resigning before the motion was submitted.

"I told the prime minister I would make a decision after the first round of the debate. I wanted to defend myself against unfounded and unfair accusations that are not based on facts. I will tender my resignation to his majesty the king," he said.

The minister is the third member of Rutte's liberal VVD party to resign over the scandal since 2015.

The departure of Van der Steur, who is also a member of Rutte's conservative VVD party, was an unwelcome embarrassment ahead of the March 15 election and could dent its popularity.

Rutte is trailing anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders' Freedom Party, who is leading public opinion polls. </s> THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The Dutch security and justice minister resigned Thursday amid allegations that he was involved in withholding information from lawmakers, a potentially damaging blow to the administration of Prime Minister Mark Rutte less than two months before a national election. Security and Justice Minister Ard van der Steur quit days after a new book presented evidence of his involvement in drafting responses to Parliament's questions about a deal prosecutors made with a drug trafficker in 2000.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Washington Post. </s> Tehran’s Mayor Mohammad Ali Najafi has once again resigned a few hours after Prosecutor-General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri threatened him to step down.

Montazeri on April 9 called the city council’s rejection of Najafi’s first resignation “political” and told the Mayor to resign again.

The mayor’s second resignation was announced only one day after the Tehran City Council rejected his first resignation on April 8.

Some of the council members said on Sunday that Najafi had resigned under political pressure, although he had mentioned “illness” as the reason.

Montazeri called the council’s rejection of Najafi’s resignation “an act of treason,” adding that the council should be held accountable if the ailing mayor fails to fulfill his responsibilities.

Montazeri’s statement “Resign and you won’t be prosecuted,” is one of the most blatant interventions by a judiciary official in this matter.

Referring to Montazeri’s remark, Council member Zahar Sadrazam Nouri said, “Now pressures are being exerted on the mayor openly.”

Another council member Mohammad Javad Haghshenas said in a tweet, “The prosecutor’s comment is beyond his legal status, and in violation of the Constitutional Law.”

Reformist MP Mahmoud Sadeqi reminded in a tweet “This is clearly within the city council’s jurisdiction to decide on the mayor’s resignation.”

Tehran City Council Chairman Mohsen Hashemi has confirmed that the mayor has resigned again, while IRGC-linked Fars news agency reported that the city council might name an acting mayor for the time being rather than appointing a new mayor.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) quoted Council Chairman Mohsen Hashemi as saying that Najafi has informed the council that he will not be able to fulfill his responsibilities as his doctor is making preparations for a surgical operation on him.

The council is going to decide on the mayor’s second resignation on Tuesday April 10, said Hashemi. This comes while Council member Hojat Nazari told Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) that the council would not discuss the resignation before next week.

Previously, several Iranian news websites reported “the IRGC Intelligence Organization exerted pressure on Najafi to resign.”

Najafi has repeatedly spoken about “widespread illegal actions at the Tehran Municipality” under former conservative Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. But when he said that he was planning to send some of these cases to Judiciary for investigation,

Tehran’s hardline Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi challenged Najafi to present his evidence to the Prosecutor’s Office “immediately.”

Meanwhile, the Tehran Prosecutor summoned Jafari to court in mid-March, after a video was released on social media showing Najafi at a Women’s Day ceremony where young girls were dancing.

Iran’s conservatives controlled the Tehran City Council for 14 years between 2003 and 2017. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the first Tehran Mayor elected by a conservative council in 2003. He took over as the country’s president within two years.

Qalibaf, who was defeated in the 2005 presidential election, took over as Tehran’s mayor in 2005 although he kept trying his luck as a presidential candidate in 2013 and 2017. His term of office as Mayor came to an end with reformist faction’s overwhelming victory in the council elections in March 2017, and Najafi replaced him in August. </s> AMSTERDAM, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A leading member of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's cabinet resigned on Thursday, weakening the government ahead of a national election in March in which it is trailing in the polls.

Justice Minister Ard van der Steur unexpectedly told parliament he would step down amid a debate over the handling of information relating to a settlement prosecutors struck with a drug dealer in 2000.

The affair centres around a settlement with drug baron Cees Helman, who received a tax free payment of around 2 million euros as part of an agreement with prosecutors.

It resurfaced earlier this month following new allegations in a book that detailed an internal email that appeared to show Van der Steur had sought to conceal details of the scandal.

Van der Steur and Rutte had come under fire from opposition lawmakers who accuse them of withholding information and had been expected to call a motion of no confidence later in the debate. The minister took the rare step of resigning before the motion was submitted.

"I told the prime minister I would make a decision after the first round of the debate. I wanted to defend myself against unfounded and unfair accusations that are not based on facts. I will tender my resignation to his majesty the king," Van der Steur said.

The departure of Van der Steur, who is also a member of Rutte's conservative VVD party, was an unwelcome embarrassment ahead of the March 15 election and could dent its popularity.

Rutte is trailing anti-Islam politician and Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, who is leading public opinion polls.

Wilders called Rutte and Van der Steur liars who "consciously chose to conceal the facts."

"It is ... the latest incident with this failing prime minister and his bungling justice minister," Wilders told the 150-seat lower house. "The sooner this cabinet of lies and deceit is gone, the better," he said.

Wilders cited an opinion poll from Wednesday showing that more than two-thirds of respondents believed Rutte knew parliament had been misinformed.

The minister is the third member of Rutte's liberal VVD party to resign over the scandal since 2015. (Reporting By Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling; Editing by Alison Williams and Dominic Evans) </s> Image copyright Bart Maat Image caption Mr Van de Steur's resignation puts pressure on the Dutch government

Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur has resigned in a row over a 2001 compensation payment to a convicted drug trafficker.

His departure is regarded as a blow to the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

His centre-right Liberal Party (VVD) is trailing in opinion polls ahead of a general election in March.

Mr van de Steur is the third member of Mr Rutte's government to resign over the scandal.

Former Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten and his junior minister, Fred Teeven, resigned in 2015 after misleading parliament over the 2001 deal.

The affair revolves around a deal prosecutors reached with a drug trafficker, Cees Helman, worth €2m (£1.7m; $2.1m).

Mr van de Steur has been criticised for his role in answers provided to parliament over the issue.

He has denied advising certain information be withheld.

PM Rutte has also come under fire from opposition politicians.

The Freedom Party, led by anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders, is leading public opinion polls. </s> An engineer who suffered horrific injuries in an acid attack allegedly carried out by his jealous ex-girlfriend died in a euthanasia clinic having decided he could not face a life of pain, her murder trial has been told.

The attack in Bristol left Mark van Dongen, 29, paralysed from the neck down, unrecognisable and all but blind.

Berlinah Wallace, 48, allegedly threw acid over his face and body after telling him: “If I can’t have you, no one else can.”

Dutch-born Van Dongen suffered 15 months of pain before being granted euthanasia in Belgium, where his family lived, in January 2017.

Wallace denies murder and applying a corrosive fluid with intent. The prosecution alleges that Van Dongen was driven to euthanasia by the physical and mental torment he suffered because of his former partner’s actions.

Adam Vaitilingam QC, prosecuting, told a jury at Bristol crown court that Wallace carried out the alleged attack at her flat in Ladysmith Road, Westbury Park.

“On 2 September 2015, the defendant had bought a bottle of sulphuric acid. She kept it in her kitchen,” Vaitilingam said. “At around 3am in the morning on 23 September, as Mr Van Dongen was sleeping in bed, she took the acid into the bedroom.

“She then went into the bedroom and woke him up. She laughed and said: ‘If I can’t have you, no one else can,’ and she threw the glass of sulphuric acid into his face.

“It covered his face and parts of his upper body and dripped on to his lower body as he moved about. Covered in burning acid, Mr Van Dongen ran out into the street in his boxer shorts, screaming for help.”

A neighbour took him upstairs, put him in a shower and called 999, and he was taken to Southmead hospital in Bristol.

“The injuries that he suffered were grotesque and horrific. His face and much of his body was grotesquely scarred,” the prosecutor said. “He lost the sight in his left eye and most of the sight in his right eye. He lost his lower left leg, which was amputated.

“He was confined to a hospital bed, for a long time unable to move anything other than his tongue. His physical condition improved a little. He regained the power of speech, though never the ability to move.

“But 15 months later, deciding that he could bear it no longer, he asked a euthanasia clinic in Belgium to assist him in taking his own life. He was examined by three consultants, who confirmed that this was, in their terms, a case of unbearable physical and psychological suffering despite maximum medical support.

“They agreed that the test for euthanasia was met, and on 2 January 2017 they inserted a catheter into his heart, which brought about his immediate death.

“It is the prosecution case that the defendant deliberately threw acid at Mr Van Dongen, intending to cause him serious harm. She admits throwing it but denies any intent to cause him harm. She says that she believed that what she was throwing over him was a glass of water.

“It is the prosecution case that the physical and mental suffering that he sustained from that deliberate acid attack were what drove him to euthanasia. Put simply, he could not bear to live in that condition. If that is right, we say, then she is guilty of murder.”

The high court judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies told the jury the case was likely to attract publicity. “This case is likely to cause emotion,” she said. “Emotion cannot play any part in your deliberations. You have to put emotion to one side. Your approach to this case is to be cool, calm and objective.”

The court heard that Wallace was a part-time fashion student at the University of the West of England in Bristol, while Van Dongen worked in the construction industry. The pair had been in a five-year relationship, but split a few weeks before the alleged attack, with the victim moving in with his new girlfriend, Violet Farquharson.

Before the alleged attack, Farquharson began receiving silent phone calls and Wallace was given a police warning about harassment.

Shortly before his death, Van Dongen told his colleagues that Wallace had been violent toward him and had threatened to stab him, the court heard. They said he “was genuinely frightened” of her.

When paramedics arrived at the scene, Van Dongen was in the shower and a neighbour said it looked as though he had had grey paint poured over him, the court heard.

“He kept saying he couldn’t see and asked if he still had eyelids,” Vaitilingam said.

Police found Wallace with a paintbrush and a piece of cloth. Asked what had caused Van Dongen’s injuries, Wallace replied: “Acid. I was using it to distress some fabric.”

During police interviews, Wallace denied deliberately throwing the acid at Van Dongen, denied she had intended to hurt him and alleged that he had assaulted her.

“She said that it was Mark who had poured the acid into the glass, encouraging her to drink it with her tablets, but that she had not realised that it was acid,” Vaitilingam said.

Wallace had, however, carried out internet searches, including: “Can I die from drinking sulphuric acid?” and for news stories about people who had been victims of acid attacks, the court heard.

In hospital, Van Dongen, having seen his face in a mirror, screamed at doctors: “Kill me now. If my face is going to be left looking like this, I don’t want to live.”

Defence barrister Richard Smith told the jury Wallace had previously reported Van Dongen to police as a result of their volatile relationship.

Smith said: “It is understandable when you see someone covered in acid running from a building, you can understand that looks like a victim. It might not be all that it seems.”

By pouring the acid into the glass Van Dongen became “the author of his own misfortune”, he said. </s> The Hague: Seven weeks before the general elections in the Netherlands, Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur has quit his post.

The move came on Thursday after a debate in parliament following new allegations on a controversial crime deal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Van der Steur said he did not feel the confidence of the members of the parliament any more and that he did not want to wait for a possible motion of no confidence.

The debate therefore ended with the minister resigning.

"I already took my decision, but I wanted to do this debate to defend myself against false accusations," Van der Steur told the parliament.

According to revelations in a book by journalist Bas Haan, Van der Steur misinformed the parliament on knowledge he had about an amount of money paid in a crime deal.

Van der Steur claimed the revelation did not contain new information and that he never had the intention to hide something, but opposition parties claimed he wanted to fool members of parliament.

Van der Steur is not the first political victim of the "Teeven deal", a controversial deal with a convicted drug lord which dates back to 2001.

In exchange for information on an even bigger drug lord, Fred Teeven, the public prosecutor at the time had given 4.7 million Dutch guilders ($2.24 million) to criminal Cees H., who led a drugs syndicate in the eighties and nineties.

At that time, the deal was kept secret from the tax services.

Van der Steur's predecessor Ivo Opstelten and Teeven, who was State Secretary of Justice, stepped down in March 2015 following misinformation on the settlement.

In December 2015, an investigation committee slammed the controversial deal, stating it should not have been struck.

Following a report by the commission, Anouchka van Miltenburg, at that time president of one of the chambers of the Dutch parliament, the House of Representatives, also stepped down.

Her role had been blasted because she had put a letter from an anonymous bell-ringer, in which all the details of the Teeven deal were pointed out into a shredder, and denied any knowledge of the deal against the commission.

For Van der Steur, a period of no longer than two years as minister comes to an end. It was not the first time he came into trouble since his appointment in March 2015.

In April last year, the 47-year-old had already survived a vote of no confidence during a fierce debate on the fight to end terrorism.

The opposition parties questioned whether the terrorism fight was in good hands with Van der Steur after he had made a series of mistakes and had given misinformation.

Stef Blok, currently acting as Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector, will replace Van der Steur. </s> ROTTERDAM, Netherlands —The escalating dispute between NATO allies Turkey and the Netherlands hit a new low Sunday, with a Turkish minister escorted out of the country less than a day after Turkey’s foreign minister was denied entry, prompting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call the Dutch “Nazi remnants.”

The diplomatic clash was over plans by Turkish government officials to campaign in the Netherlands for a referendum back home. Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya had arrived in the country from Germany but was prevented from entering Turkey’s diplomatic compound in Rotterdam, setting up a standoff with armed police. She was later sent under escort back to Germany.

As she was approaching the German border, Kaya wrote that “the whole world must take action against this fascist practice! Such a treatment against a woman minister cannot be accepted.”

The Dutch were equally angry and Prime Minister Mark Rutte called Erdogan’s Nazi comment “a crazy remark,” while Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said the Turkish consul general was guilty of a “scandalous deception” after he allegedly denied that the minister was coming despite government warnings to stay away.

“He lied to us and didn’t tell the truth,” the mayor said. “The deception worsened when they drove in different columns to Rotterdam” to try to fool Dutch authorities.

Hundreds of pro-Turkey protesters scuffled with police into the night in Rotterdam.

The diplomatic clash with Kaya came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was barred from landing in the Netherlands on Saturday and Turkish officials closed off the Dutch Embassy and called its ambassador no longer welcome.

The Dutch barred Cavusoglu from entering because of objections to his intention to attend a rally in Rotterdam for a referendum on constitutional reforms to expand Erdogan’s powers, which the Dutch see as a step backward from democracy. Turkish officials have been campaigning in various European cities with Turkish populations before the April 16 vote.

The Dutch government said it withdrew landing permission because of “risks to public order and security,” leading Cavusoglu to say: “So is the foreign minister of the Turkish republic a terrorist?”

Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul that the Dutch “do not know politics or international diplomacy.” He compared them to “Nazi remnants, they are fascists.”

Erdogan had earlier this month already compared German policies to “Nazi practices,” after German municipalities canceled several campaign events by Turkish officials last weekend.

He told a rally in Istanbul Saturday: “You can stop our foreign minister’s plane all you want, let’s see how your (diplomatic) planes will come to Turkey from now on.”

In the evening, a Turkish foreign ministry official who spoke on customary anonymity said the Dutch Embassy in Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul were closed off because of security reasons.

The official said entries and exits were closed to the two locations. Similar precautions were taken at the Dutch charge d’affaires’ house and the ambassador’s residence.

The Turkish foreign ministry also said that it doesn’t want to see the Dutch ambassador, who is out of the country, return to his post for some time because of the increasingly divisive dispute with the Netherlands.

In a written statement early Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country will strongly respond to the Dutch actions.

“There will be a stronger reprisal against the unacceptable treatment toward Turkey and ministers who have diplomatic immunity,” Yildirim said.

Cavusoglu said he arrived in Metz, France, late Saturday, where he was expected to address crowds on Sunday.

The diplomatic row comes at a time when relations between Turkey and the European Union, of which the Netherlands is a member, have been steadily worsening, especially in the wake of Erdogan’s actions since last year’s failed coup. More than 41,000 people have been arrested and 100,000 civil servants fired from their jobs.

Cavusoglu said that “unfortunately Europe and several countries in Europe, the Netherlands being in the first place, they are reminiscent of the Europe of World War II. The same racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, we see all the crimes against humanity in today’s politics.”

The dispute also comes just days before the Netherlands goes to the polls next Wednesday for the lower house of Parliament. The campaign has been dominated by issues of identity, with anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders set to make strong gains.

Earlier Saturday, Cavusoglu said “Wilders is racist, fascist, Nazi, like a Nazi.” Citing comments that Wilders wanted action against Muslims, Cavusoglu said: “What are you going to do? Are you going to kill them, burn them or what?”
Eberhard van der Laan, the mayor of Amsterdam, takes a permanent leave of absence after disclosing that his metastatic lung cancer has been diagnosed as terminal.