AMSTERDAM, Nov 12: The 1,350 Dutch troops in Iraq will be brought home as planned in March, the Defence Ministry said on Friday, but the Netherlands will contribute to a NATO training mission there.
The Dutch contingent has been based in the Muthanna province, in southern Iraq, since August 2003 and parliament in June extended their stay until March 2005. "We think that by March 2005 the security situation in Al Muthanna will be stable enough to hand over the task to Iraqi security," Defence Ministry spokesman Otte Beeksma said.
"This does not mean we won't have a presence in Iraq at all. We will send about 100 men to provide support and training in the NATO training mission," he said. The Netherlands has been under US and British pressure to keep its troops in Iraq beyond the March deadline as the interim administration tries to contain mounting violence and hold elections.
Foreign Minister Bernard Bot recently suggested an extension might be possible, but Defence Minister Henk Kamp said the cabinet had now ruled that out. -Reuters
