The opposition Green Left and Christian Union parties want the cabinet to provide clarification about recent statements by the police commander of Kunduz province in Afghanistan regarding the deployment of police officers being trained there by the Netherlands.

On Sunday, TV news programme RTL Nieuws broadcast an interview with the Afghan police commander which appeared to indicated that there is a real chance his men will be deployed to fight insurgents.

This would violate agreements the Dutch government made with the Afghan authorities at the insistence of parliament in The Hague. The police commander said fighting is not the primary objective of the police officers but, in the case of a Taliban attack, they must defend themselves, seal off the area and hold it until anti-terrorist units arrive.

Green Left and the Christian Union submitted written questions on Monday. They want to know whether the government believes this type of deployment complies with existing agreements.

(gsh/imm/tf)

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