Dutch government falls over Afghanistan mission

Radio Netherlands Worldwide - The Dutch government has collapsed over a rift between coalition parties about extending Dutch military participation in Afghanistan.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told journalists that the prime minister has offered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix, the constitutional head-of-state.

News of the collapse came in the early hours of Saturday morning following 16 hours of crisis meetings and days of speculation that the differences between the coalition parties had simply become too great to bridge. Read more.