The Netherlands will remain involved in efforts to rebuild Afghanistan past 2010, foreign minister Maxime Verhagen told Australian media on Tuesday.

‘We will end our role as a lead nation in the task force in 2010, the end of 2010, but its also clear that the Netherlands will be involved in rebuilding Afghanistan for many years to come,’ Verhagen said during an interview on ABC’s Radio Australia.
Verhagen is currently on an official visit to Australia. Dutch and Australian troops are working closely together in the southern Afghan region of Uruzgan.
But Verhagen says there has been no discussion so far about extending the Dutch military mandate, let alone any decision, Radio Australia reported.
There is some confusion in the Netherlands about what will happen when the Dutch military mandate expires in August 2010 with Verhagen and defence minister Eimert van Middelkoop recently making apparently conflicting statements.