NATO has accepted that the Dutch mission in the Afghan province of Uruzgan will end in 2010.
Secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer confirmed this to a delegation of Dutch MPs on Monday evening.

He added that he would put the confirmation on paper if prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende sends him a letter.
The delegation of eight MPs – four from government parties and four from the opposition – travelled to NATO headquarters in Brussels to seek assurances that if the Dutch mission is extended by two years, withdrawal in 2010 will be guaranteed, reports the AD newspaper.
Liberal MP Hans van Baalen called De Hoop Scheffer’s remarks ‘a crystal clear agreement’.
Christian Democrat MP Karien van Gennip told the paper that it is now clear that NATO will find a country willing to replace the Dutch soldiers. ‘The secretary general will inform his successor so there can be no misunderstanding,’ she told the newspaper.
Dutch parliament will vote next Monday on whether to extend the Dutch mission. The cabinet said at the end of November that it supports the extension of the Dutch mission in Afghanistan until December 2010.