Labour opposes new Afghan mission
The Labour party is opposed to the cabinet’s plans to send a 350-strong police and military training mission to Afghanistan, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.
On Wednesday it emerged the cabinet is considering sending a 350-strong training mission to northern Afghanistan under the auspices of both the EU and Nato.
‘We are not opposed to police trainers but we do not want them to be accompanied by soldiers,’ the paper quotes Labour leader Job Cohen as saying. ‘This proposal leans towards this and we do not support it.’
Support
The previous government collapsed when Labour refused to support an extension to the Dutch military mission in Afghanistan.
The drive towards supplying police trainers was drawn up by the D66 and GroenLinks opposition parties, but they say they want to see the cabinet’s plan on paper before commenting.
The anti-Islam PVV, which supports the government on economic policy, has already said it opposes the new mission, forcing the cabinet to look for support elsewhere.
Ministers will discuss the plan on Friday.
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