Dutch government falls over Afghan troop mission

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter  Balkenende’s coalition government collapsed yesterday when the  two largest parties failed to agree on whether to withdraw  troops from Afghanistan this year as planned.

The fall of the government in the EU country, just two days  short of the coalition’s third anniversary, all but guarantees  that the 2,000 Dutch troops will be brought home this year.

That would be the first major a crack in the coalition of  some 40 nations battling a steadily increasing Taliban  insurgency in Afghanistan.

The collapse, the fourth for a cabinet led by Balkenende in  eight years, throws into doubt the scope and timing of planned  budget cuts for next year as well.

“I unfortunately note that there is no longer a fruitful  path for the Christian Democrats, Labour Party and Christian  Union to go forward,” Balkenende, who leads the centre-right  Christian Democrats, told reporters.

It followed more than 15 hours of talks and acrimonious  exchanges throughout the week. Balkenende officially offered  Queen Beatrix the resignations of the Labour ministers   yesterday morning, and she summoned the fallen cabinet’s leaders  and other state officials to the royal palace on Monday.

Balkenende wanted to extend the Dutch deployment in  Afghanistan past an August deadline, but Deputy Prime Minister  Wouter Bos’s Labour Party opposed any extension.

NATO had asked the Netherlands, among the top 10  contributing nations to the mission, to investigate the  possibility of a longer stay.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said NATO Secretary General  Anders Fogh Rasmussen respected the Dutch discussion.

“The Secretary General continues to believe that the best  way forward for the mission would be a new smaller Dutch mission  to consolidate the progress that the Dutch have made until now,  and to help the process of transition to Afghan lead,” he said.

Parliamentary elections could be held mid-year at the  earliest, but would probably be followed by months of talks  between parties to form a coalition government.