It’s not just the Afghanistan situation; my anger and resistance to American politics have much more to do with their support of Israel than anything else. But there are great roles for people like Meryl Streep or Catherine Zeta Jones – the characters are very clearly written.”So is this a definite “go” project? Verhoeven shrugs his shoulders “It’s my wish to change gears. He starts off in his early 20s [Verhoeven looks around wide-eyed, miming a Candide figure], and by the end he’s pow-shppow! [mimes firing guns left and right].” Elijah Wood, Heath Ledger and Colin Farrell are in his sights because, as he says, “You have to be sure that the cast is there, so the studio will commit to releasing it in the USA. “Rasputin is out! The Woodhull project is written, but I’ve not been able to find financing – I’m waiting to hear from Nicole.

But when I ask about his next movie, his Hollywood-bright teeth start flashing with enthusiasm as he nails the phantoms of speculation. Three of his six domestic features have just been reissued on DVD – his debut Business Is Business (1972), the Oscar-nominated sex-a-thon Turkish Delight (1973) and Golden Globe-winning war epic Soldier of Orange (1978).
He remains the Netherland’s most successful cinematic export, but his career-long predilection for sexual and violent material means he’s never been anything other than a deeply controversial figure at home, and he departed for Hollywood in 1985 under a thunderous cloud. Of all the people I expected to see at an Amsterdam film festival, cinema’s most famous Amsterdammer was some way down the list. We cannot go on as we are or we will go bust, we will run out of cash,” he said.Mr Leighton ruled out compulsory redundancies saying that Consignia would get twice the applicants for the 30,000 jobs it is shedding in total. There was little action from Europe to try to bring back the money to Africa and improve living conditions.

Delegates will probably be allowed only to reject or accept proposals, in effect giving Mr Karzai room to make deals with the armed factions. It is a proud moment for me.”Mrs Jalal put herself forward as a simple Afghan woman not associated with any armed group, an important factor for many of the women present. We wish he would rely on the support of the people.”Mir Mohammed, another delegate from Kabul, said: “I was thinking of voting for Karzai this morning but when I heard his speech I realised he can’t solve the problems of Afghanistan He only mentioned the leaders of the armed factions They all support him. Soraya, a delegate from Kabul, said: “We love Hamid Karzai but we don’t like his allies. The French citizen was arrested in August last year after arousing suspicions at a flight school in the Midwest. The so-called “American Taliban”, John Walker Lindh, and Mr Reid are both believed to have attended the school.Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, said yesterday he was confident Pakistan was doing everything it could to round up al-Qa’ida operatives.* Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, told a court in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday that he played no role in the 11 September attacks in America. A number of American citizens and other Westerners who formed part of an al-Qa’ida “international brigade” have been arrested by Pakistani authorities close to the country’s border with Afghanistan, senior officials say.