January 11, 2006	Wednesday	Zilhaj 10, 1426

THE HAGUE, Jan 10: The United States is concerned by the Dutch hesitation to send troops to southern Afghanistan as part of the new NATO deployment in the country, a senior US official saidon Tuesday.

“I think the NATO is doing good work. I believe that the US and the European Union are doing good work in the world. This is why I am perplexed by the debate in the Netherlands,” the US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried told the Dutch newspaper, Volkskrant.

“Frankly, I do not understand how the Dutch could pull out.” The Dutch are coming under increasing pressure to decide quickly whether they will send troops or not to Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.—AFP