BRUSSELS, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Dutch Labor Party leader Wouter Bos is likely to become prime minister of the Netherlands in a year if his center-left party maintains its strong lead in the polls. United Press International spoke to the 42-year old former Shell manager about the extent of the terrorist threat facing Holland and how best to integrate the country's million-strong Muslim community. Ahead of a key vote in the Dutch parliament, UPI also asked whether the Netherlands should send extra troops to Afghanistan, as requested by NATO leaders. Mr. Bos responded: We have got strong doubts about whether any proposal could meet our criteria. We are very concerned about having troops in one the most difficult provinces of Afghanistan (the south, where both al-Qaida and the Taliban are active). We would then have troops that are both peace-building and fighting and that is confusing. For the people living there it would not be clear when they deal with a Dutch soldier whether they are dealing with a peacemaker or a fighting soldier and that is a dangerous thing. Despite the guarantees we are getting from the Americans, we are also very worried about how the (NATO-led) international security force and (the U.S.-led) Enduring Freedom can remain separate exercises. The reason we in the Dutch Labor Party did not agree to send troops to participate in Enduring Freedom is that under no circumstances did we want to get involved in Guantanamo Bay type practices. If we cannot get a guarantee that by sending Dutch troops to Afghanistan they will not get mingled up in Enduring Freedom and Guantanamo Bay, then we shouldn't send them.
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