THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The Dutch government’s efforts to win parliamentary backing for last week’s euro rescue plan has been thrown into question after the opposition Labour Party said Greece’s surprise referendum plan was a “deal breaker.”

The comments strongly suggest that the Labour Party is unlikely to support the rescue measures during a parliamentary debate scheduled for Tuesday evening in The Hague, and that the minority coalition government may struggle to muster a majority for the latest deal.

Government parties Christian Democrats said a Greek referendum would be “undesirable,” and the Liberals said each euro zone country should meet last week’s rescue agreement, Dutch news agency ANP reported.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s shock decision late on Monday to call a referendum on Greece’s bailout has drawn veiled threats from Germany and hammered markets edgy over the euro zone crisis.

European politicians complained that Athens was trying to wriggle out of the latest rescue deal, concerned not so much about the fate of Greece as the possibly dire consequences for the entire currency union.

The Dutch parliament was scheduled to hold a debate on Tuesday evening at 1900 GMT. No vote was scheduled but Prime Minister Mark Rutte was keen to muster majority support for the measures agreed last week.

“The Cabinet is concerned about the delay that can develop due to the uncertainty around Greece,” Rutte said in a letter to Parliament, adding that the bailout package agreed last month by euro zone leaders needed to be implemented swiftly.

AMSTERDAM, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Dutch food and chemicals group Royal DSM NV said lower consumer and business confidence was hitting demand in the electronics and electrical sectors, raising concerns over its outlook even as the group’s quarterly profit beat estimates.

The chemical industry is particularly exposed during economic slowdowns because of overhead costs for production plants as well as the dependence on highly cyclical machinery makers, car manufacturers and the building sector.

Although DSM has sold off its lower-margin bulk chemicals businesses to concentrate on less cyclical food ingredients and high-end plastics, Chief Executive Feike Sijbesma said DSM would not be immune to a deterioration in the economy.

Still, the company reiterated 2011 would be a strong year.

Chief Financial Officer Rolf-Dieter Schwalb added the slowdown in the third quarter in the electronics and electrics sector had continued into the fourth quarter and construction markets are expected to remain weak for the next few years.

“We clearly see a softening in demand, but that is all we can say at the moment,” Schwalb told reporters, declining to comment on the 2012 outlook. “The economy is not growing as fast as it was before and we have to be mindful of that.”

DSM said third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 37 percent to 231 million euros ($322 million), compared with a forecast 206 million.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is expected to try to surrender to the International Criminal Court or seek refuge in a friendly African country as he races to escape his father’s fate.

The ICC in The Hague said on Friday the 39-year-old had been in touch. It urged him to turn himself in, warning it could order a mid-air interception if he and his mercenary guards tried to flee by plane from his desert hideout for a safe haven.

The ICC’s comments offered some corroboration of reports from Tripoli’s new National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders and African neighbours that he has taken refuge with Tuareg nomads in the borderlands between Libya and Niger.

“Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif,” ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

“We have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African (state) not party to … the ICC. The Office of the Prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest.”

NTC officials told Reuters earlier this week that monitoring of satellite calls and other intelligence indicated Saif al-Islam was considering turning himself in to the ICC, and trying to arrange an aircraft to get him there and out of reach of NTC fighters, in whose hands Muammar Gaddafi was killed a week ago.

DESERT FRIENDS

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – From deep in the Sahara, fearing that he will share his father’s bloody fate at the hands of vengeful Libyans and calling in old favors bought with oil from desert tribes and African strongmen, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi may be bartering a future.

The International Criminal Court at The Hague confirmed on Friday that the 39-year-old heir-apparent to Libya’s slain former leader had been in touch. It urged him to turn himself in, warning it could order a mid-air interception if he and his mercenary guards tried to flee by plane for safe haven abroad.

Though details remain sketchy of the whereabouts and state of mind of Saif al-Islam, the London-educated would-be reformer now indicted for crimes against humanity, the ICC offered some corroboration of reports from Tripoli’s new leaders and African neighbors that he has taken refuge with Tuareg nomads in the borderlands between Libya and Niger, seeking a way to safety.

“Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif,” ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

“We have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African (state) not party to … the ICC. The Office of the Prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane within the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest.”

Officials with Libya’s National Transitional Council told Reuters earlier in the week that monitoring of satellite calls and other intelligence indicated Saif al-Islam was considering turning himself in to The Hague, and trying to arrange an aircraft to get him there and out of reach of NTC fighters, in whose hands Muammar Gaddafi was beaten and killed a week ago.

DESERT FRIENDS

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The prosecutor for the world’s top war crimes court said on Friday informal contact has been made with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in order to arrest him and bring him to trial.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and Libya’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi with crimes against humanity for the bombing and shooting of civilian protesters in February.

Abdel Majid Mlegta, a senior military official of Libya’s National Transitional Council, told Reuters on Wednesday that Saif al-Islam and Senussi wanted to surrender to the ICC in The Hague because they felt unsafe in Libya, Algeria or Niger.

A NTC source said on Thursday Saif al-Islam wanted an aircraft, possibly arranged by a neighboring country, to take him out of Libya’s southern desert and into ICC custody.

Under such a deal, Saif al-Islam would be taken to The Hague where the ICC shares a detention unit with the U.N. Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where former Liberian president Charles Taylor is on trial.

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah on Friday declined to say where Saif al-Islam is hiding.

“If we reach agreement, logistical measures for his transfer will be taken,” Abdallah said, adding that this might take some time. “It is not possible to discuss logistics or make presumptions about what is needed at this stage. There are different scenarios depending on what country he is in.”

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Negotiating the surrender of Saif al-Islam, the son of Libya’s slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, would present logistical and security challenges to the world’s top war crimes court which is examining various possible scenarios to bring him to trial.

The International Criminal Court had charged Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and Libya’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi with crimes against humanity for the bombing and shooting of civilian protesters in February.

A source with Libya’s National Transitional Council said on Thursday Saif al-Islam wants an aircraft, possibly arranged by a neighboring country, to take him out of Libya’s southern desert so he can turn himself in to the ICC.

If arranged, Saif al-Islam would be transported to The Hague where the ICC shares a detention unit with the U.N. Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where former Liberian president Charles Taylor is on trial.

The court is trying to confirm with the NTC whether Saif al-Islam wants to surrender and is considering various scenarios for his transfer, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said.

“It depends on where the suspect is and how we can get into contact with him and what would be necessary to bring him to The Hague. There are different scenarios,” El Abdallah said.

With no police force of its own, the ICC has relied in the past on state co-operation to have its suspects arrested and many of them have remained fugitives such as Sudan President Omar al-Bashir whose government has snubbed the court.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Saif al-Islam, the son of Libya’s slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is trying to negotiate his surrender to the International Criminal Court, a source with the National Transitional Council told Reuters on Thursday.

How would the legal process unfold?

WHAT IS SAIF AL-ISLAM CHARGED WITH?

The ICC charged Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and Libya’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi with crimes against humanity for the shooting and killing of civilians protesters in February.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and al-Senussi drew up a “predetermined plan” to kill protesters and that Gaddafi gave the orders, while Saif al-Islam organised the recruitment of mercenaries.

Moreno-Ocampo has said his office has documented how the three suspects held meetings to plan the operations.

WHERE WOULD HE BE DETAINED?

FRANKFURT/AMSTERDAM, Oct 27 (Reuters) – European chemical groups warned of slowing demand from construction industry customers in both fast-growing Asia and moribund Europe, compounding problems with rising raw materials costs.

The chemical sector’s dependence on highly cyclical machinery makers, carmakers and builders makes it especially vulnerable to a downturn.

Germany’s Bayer (BAYGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) flagged a slowdown in China’s robust construction sector, while global chemical industry leader BASF (BASFn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said its construction chemicals business was unable to fully pass on higher raw material prices to customers.

“We see a certain weakness in Asia, mainly in China where the construction business is declining,” Bayer Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers said, adding that this was weighing on demand for Bayer’s insulation foams chemicals.

Bayer posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Thursday, helped by cost cuts at its drugs unit and higher sales volumes of farming pesticides and confirmed its 2011 group outlook.

BASF, whose third-quarter earnings also beat forecasts, warned that growth was slowing as customers run down inventories.

“BASF’s customers planned more cautiously, reduced inventories, and partially delayed orders in expectation of possible falling prices,” the company said.

FRANKFURT/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – European chemical groups warned of slowing demand in the construction industry on Thursday, compounding problems with rising raw materials costs as they reported third-quarter results on Thursday.

Global chemical industry leader BASF (BASFn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, but warned that growth was slowing as customers run down inventories.

“BASF’s customers planned more cautiously, reduced inventories, and partially delayed orders in expectation of possible falling prices,” it said in a statement.

The chemical industry’s dependence on highly cyclical investment goods makers, car manufacturers and the construction industry makes it especially vulnerable to a downturn.

In addition, the overhead costs tied to its massive plants drag earnings lower when demand and capacity usage drop, although a dip in the price of oil since May has eased some cost inflation for some petrochemical raw materials.

“Europe looks to be the worst of all. We have been fairly downbeat on growth prospects, if we can even talk about growth at all,” said ING analyst Jan Hein de Vroe. “They all stick to their guidance, but these were never really challenging.”

He said underlying results for the sector are worse than the headline consensus estimates and the companies are currently relying on cost cuts to protect earnings.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – International Criminal Court deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is one of four candidates on a shortlist to replace Luis Moreno-Ocampo as chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court when his nine-year term ends next year.

Bensouda, 50, of Gambia, was appointed the ICC’s deputy prosecutor in September 2004 and previously worked as a legal adviser and trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania.

She has long been regarded as favourite to take over from the tough-talking Moreno-Ocampo, particularly as the ICC’s cases are largely focused on Africa at this time, and she has the backing of the African Union which has been critical of the ICC.

The other three on the shortlist are Britain’s Andrew Cayley, a co-prosecutor in the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia, Tanzania’s Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, and Canadian Robert Petit, a war crimes counsel in Canada’s Department of Justice.

The candidates’ names were released by the selection committee of the Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the Hague-based war crimes court. The committee interviewed 8 candidates from a list of 52 before deciding on the shortlist.

ICC member states must now try to reach a consensus on one candidate, possibly by this month, followed by a formal vote at a meeting of the Assembly of States Parties in December in New York. The new prosecutor will take office next July.

Param-Preet Singh, a senior counsel at Human Rights Watch, said it was a strong shortlist.