By Michelle Fitzpatrick - 18th May 2006
Neelie Kroes has expressed support for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born MP who was stripped of her Dutch citizenship following revelations that she lied on her asylum application.
EU competition chief Kroes, a friend of Hirsi Ali, played a key role in persuading the controversial MP to switch from the Labour Party to Kroes’s own Liberal Party VVD.
She told Dutch media she was “ashamed for the Netherlands” to see that someone like Hirsi Ali is being “pushed out of the country”.
Hirsi Ali is an outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism and Kroes praised her role in Dutch politics and on leading the debate on integration.
With these words, Kroes turned against her former confidant and party member Rita Verdonk, the tough Dutch immigration minister, who hurriedly withdrew Hirsi Ali’s citizenship after a tv documentary exposed the asylum lies.
Verdonk, who was hoping to run for prime minister in 2007, has come under fire from all the main parties in the Netherlands.
Kroes said she no longer supports Verdonk’s candidacy, switching to rival candidate Mark Rutte instead.
“I have asked Rita to take my name off her website,” Kroes said.
Verdonk has been urged to allow Hirsi Ali to re-apply for Dutch citizenship.
Meanwhile, Hirsi Ali has been asked to work for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington-based think tank.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick told Dutch media she would be “very welcome” in the US.
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