Climate change, the situation in Afghanistan and Dutch opposition to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp were on the agenda at prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s last visit to US president George Bush on Wednesday.

According to news agency AFP, Bush described the talks as ‘candid’. ‘I assured [Balkenende] the US is concerned about the issue,’ Bush said, referring to their talks on tackling global warming.
The US refuses to sign the Kytoto protocol on climate change.
The US president also praised the Dutch contribution to NATO reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The Netherlands, which has 1,700 troops in the region, has extended its mission until August 2010.
At the same time, foreign minister Maxime Verhagen held talks with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
According to news agency ANP, Verhagen told Rice that the five men charged with masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US should be on trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague rather than in the US.
If Osama bin Laden is captured, he should also be tried there, ANP quoted Verhagen as saying.