Labour Party withdraws from Dutch coalition government

The Dutch coalition government has collapsed, after the two largest parties failed to agree on the withdrawal of the country's troops from Afghanistan.

Labour Party leader Wouter Bos says his party has decided it can no longer be part of the government.

Wouter Bos, Dutch Finance Minister, said, "It was not easy to decide this. We have been fighting for a credible decision about the Dutch presence in Uruzgan and to ensure the government stuck to the plan, but we have failed in this."

Netherlands' Finance Minister and Labour Party leader Wouter Bos, flanked by his party members, announces his party's withdrawal from Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's three-party alliance in The Hague February 20, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer