The cabinet says it does not rule out sending a new, smaller mission to Afghanistan after 2010. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the mission in Uruzgan would end in 2010.

Currently some 2,000 troops are stationed there. It's said the new mission would comprise several hundred soldiers. Following the weekly cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister André Rouvoet emphasised that the Netherlands will quit as a lead nation in the Afghan province. He refused to speculate about the future. "If we receive requests to do something else in Afghanistan, we will consider them", he said. The debate has been rekindled by remarks by Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, who wondered "if we can keep appealing to others". A majority in parliament, including the governing Labour Party, strongly opposes extending the mission in Uruzgan.

Foto: Uruzgan (Flickr / Remko Tanis)