World news in brief: Dutch coalition government collapses
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NETHERLANDS
Government falls over Afghan mission
The Dutch coalition government collapsed Saturday over whether to extend the country’s military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there uncertain. An early election is expected.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the second-largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting.
Any Dutch withdrawal would be a worrying sign for NATO, which has struggled to raise the 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, has demanded to accompany the 30,000 American reinforcements being deployed there.
– Associated Press
CUBA
Visiting U.S. officials rebuked for meeting
Cuba scolded a top U.S. delegation Saturday for meeting with political opposition leaders after high-level immigration discussions in Havana, saying it proves Washington is out to topple the country’s communist government.
A senior American official defended the meeting, saying U.S. policy is to reach out to all sectors of Cuban society, not just the government.
Elizardo Sánchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, confirmed that a group of Cuban dissident leaders met with the U.S. delegation late Friday at the residence of the head of the U.S. Interests Section.
admin @ February 21, 2010