Representational image.
Amsterdam:
The Netherlands will consider contributing F-16 fighter jets and arms for Kurdish fighters to help counter the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a Dutch newspaper reported on Thursday.
The Trouw daily, citing government sources, said an unspecified number of planes will take part in air strikes against insurgent targets in Iraq and possibly Syria.
The Netherlands was not among the nations approached by U.S. President Barack Obama at a NATO meeting in Wales earlier this month, when he was seeking to build a coalition of allies against the hardline Islamic offshoot of Al Qaeda.
Washington had not taken the Dutch offer to provide 1,000 helmets and bullet proof vests to the Kurdish troops in northern Iraq seriously, Trouw reported.
The Dutch contribution, to be discussed at a weekly Cabinet meeting of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government on Friday, must also be approved by a majority in the 150-seat parliament.
Trouw reported that the parties needed to win enough votes in the legislature were behind the mission.
Dutch official said in August the Netherlands would consider providing arms, but gave no additional details.
The Trouw daily, citing government sources, said an unspecified number of planes will take part in air strikes against insurgent targets in Iraq and possibly Syria.
The Netherlands was not among the nations approached by U.S. President Barack Obama at a NATO meeting in Wales earlier this month, when he was seeking to build a coalition of allies against the hardline Islamic offshoot of Al Qaeda.
Washington had not taken the Dutch offer to provide 1,000 helmets and bullet proof vests to the Kurdish troops in northern Iraq seriously, Trouw reported.
The Dutch contribution, to be discussed at a weekly Cabinet meeting of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government on Friday, must also be approved by a majority in the 150-seat parliament.
Trouw reported that the parties needed to win enough votes in the legislature were behind the mission.
Dutch official said in August the Netherlands would consider providing arms, but gave no additional details.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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