THE HAGUE: Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned on Friday after a cabinet meeting failed to agree sanctions against Israel.
“I see that I am insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures to increase pressure on Israel,” Veldkamp told ANP after a cabinet debate on possible sanctions against Israel was deadlocked.
Last month Veldkamp declared far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich unwelcome in the Netherlands.
On Thursday he said he wanted to take further steps against Israel, but later acknowledged he lacked confidence he could act effectively in the coming weeks or months.
The minister said the steps he had proposed were “seriously discussed” but encountered resistance in successive cabinet meetings.
“I feel constrained in setting the course I consider necessary as foreign minister,” he said.
The Netherlands was among 21 countries that signed a joint declaration on Thursday condemning Israel’s approval of a major West Bank settlement project as “unacceptable and contrary to international law.”
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Dutch foreign minister resigns over Israel sanctions
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Dutch foreign minister resigns over Israel sanctions
- Veldkamp said he was unable to take meaningful measures against Israel after a cabinet debate on possible sanctions
Guinea confirms detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers
- Guinea said late Tuesday the soldiers entered the Koudaya district in the Faranah region without authorization
- Guinea said its forces seized their equipment and supplies
CONAKRY: Guinea’s military confirmed the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers after accusing them of crossing the border and raising their flag on Guinean soil.
The two West African countries have been involved in a border dispute for more than two decades, stemming from the Sierra Leonean Civil War between 1991 and 2002. Sierra Leone’s government had invited Guinea to help defend its eastern borders during the war, but the Guinean troops didn’t completely withdraw after the war.
The GuineanMinistry of National Defense said in a statement, issued late Tuesday, the soldiers entered the district of Koudaya in Faranah, a border region in Guinea, without authorization, where they“set up a tent and raised their national flag”. Guinean authorities also seized their equipment and supplies.
The Sierra Leonean authorities earlier Tuesday said several members of a security unit, including an officer, had been apprehended while making bricks fora border post in Kalieyereh in the district of Falaba on Monday.
Last year, the Guinean military entered a mineral-rich border town in Sierra Leone, reigniting the tension.
The two West African countries have been involved in a border dispute for more than two decades, stemming from the Sierra Leonean Civil War between 1991 and 2002. Sierra Leone’s government had invited Guinea to help defend its eastern borders during the war, but the Guinean troops didn’t completely withdraw after the war.
The GuineanMinistry of National Defense said in a statement, issued late Tuesday, the soldiers entered the district of Koudaya in Faranah, a border region in Guinea, without authorization, where they“set up a tent and raised their national flag”. Guinean authorities also seized their equipment and supplies.
The Sierra Leonean authorities earlier Tuesday said several members of a security unit, including an officer, had been apprehended while making bricks fora border post in Kalieyereh in the district of Falaba on Monday.
Last year, the Guinean military entered a mineral-rich border town in Sierra Leone, reigniting the tension.
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