'Shades of Srebrenica' Overshadow Nato's Mission in Afghanistan

The Srebrenica massacre, the worst atrocity in Europe since the Nazi era, cast a shadow over Afghanistan yesterday when the Dutch government demanded guarantees that its troops would not face a similar disaster again.

A plan by Nato to send 6,000 troops into southern Afghanistan was subject to last-minute wrangling as the Dutch government voiced fears that its troops could be stranded.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and other Nato foreign ministers, offered reassurances that around 1,000 Dutch troops would be supported when the new peacekeeping mission was launched next year.

The intervention by Ben Bot, the Dutch foreign minister, shows what a sensitive issue Srebrenica is in the Netherlands, a decade after 8,000 Muslim refugees were massacred by Bosnian Serb forces under the eyes of Dutch peacekeepers in what was meant to be a safe haven. A report on the massacre, which found that the peacekeepers handed over the refugees to the Serbs knowing what awaited them, prompted the mass resignation of Wim Kok's Labour government in 2002.

"There were shades of Srebrenica in today's talks," one Nato official said yesterday.

The last-minute wrangling came as Nato foreign ministers approved plans to send 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan to expand its peacekeeping mission. Under the plans, which are expected to come into effect in May, the number of Nato peacekeepers will increase to 16,000 as the alliance takes responsibility for security in 75% of the country. Washington has been pushing for the extra troops, who will mostly be Dutch, British and Canadian, to allow US forces to concentrate on Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

Nato has responded to European fears that peacekeeping troops could become embroiled in offensive operations by improving links between the two missions. It insists that its troops will be equipped to deal with threats. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato general secretary, said: "There should be no doubt, our forces will have the equipment and the support they need to do the job."

The Dutch government also raised questions about whether prisoners handed over to the Afghan government could be tortured or subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. Mr Bot said his government had reached an agreement with the Afghan government which guaranteed that this would not happen.

The discussion about the torture of prisoners in Afghanistan came after Ms Rice was questioned by her European counterparts over allegations that terrorist suspects have been flown to secret US detention camps. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, said that Ms Rice had assured Nato that Washington did not take a different view of international law.