The world needs to set up a new tribunal to try people who pass nuclear secrets and supplies to terrorists or who break international treaties on nuclear security, prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende suggested during a meeting of the world’s major nuclear powers in Washington.

A tribunal would be ‘in line with president Barack Obamba’s proposal to take concrete steps’ Balkenende told reporters after a working dinner with the 47 world leaders at the two day summit. In addition, it fits in with the Netherlands’ branding of The Hague as legal capital of the world, he said.
Balkenende said Obama reacted positively to the idea. He also said he had been supported by Germany and France, both of which want international laws on nuclear security to be strengthened.
The Dutch forensic institute is a leading expert in tracking nuclear material and its origins and could also play a major role in the tribunal, he was quoted as saying in the Telegraaf.

G20
During the Washington meeting, Balkenende has also been lobbying for the Netherlands to be invited to the G20 summit in Canada in June, the Volkskrant reported. Dutch lobbying is more difficult than prior to previous meetings, the prime minister told the paper.
‘The invitation is not there yet. But the race is not over,’ the paper quoted him as saying.
The decision to pull Dutch troops out of Afghanistan, despite the pleas of the US and Nato, was a ‘complication’ for the Dutch position, the paper said.
Despite the size of its economy, the Netherlands is not a member of the G20 group but is usually invited to summits as an observer.
For a BBC report on the summit, click here