Fact-finders to head for Afghanistan, police training mission on cards

The Netherlands will soon send a small fact-finding team of military officials and diplomats to Afghanistan, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.


This is the first stage in the process of taking part in a military and police training mission, the paper says. The team will look at the ‘possibility and desirability’ of such a mission and has been ordered by the foreign affairs ministry.
The minority government said earlier it would look at sending police trainers to work under Nato auspices.
The team will not be dispatched until parliament has been informed, probably on Friday. The government’s partner, the anti-Islam PVV, is opposed to any further involvement in Afghanistan.
Nato summit

If the Netherlands announces formally that it is looking into launching a training mission, prime minister Mark Rutte will have something to offer world leaders at next week’s Nato summit.
US president Barack Obama and others are expected to pressure the Netherlands to remain involved in the region.
The Dutch began withdrawing soldiers from the southern province of Uruzgan in August.

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