The Netherlands' coalition government has collapsed over the country's military mission in Afghanistan, the prime minister has said.
Jan Peter Balkenende said the second largest party in his coalition was quitting the government over irreconcilable differences over the Afghan deployment.
Mr Balkenende made no mention of elections but the resignation of the Labour Party would leave his government with an unworkable majority.
Saturday's announcement came after a marathon 16-hour Cabinet meeting in which the three-party alliance remained deeply divided over whether to keep a trimmed down military presence in Uruzgan province or to pull out when the mission expired in August.
Mr Balkenende tried to delay the decision but Wouter Bos, the finance minister and leader of the Labour Party, demanded an immediate ruling.
The Dutch mission to the southern Afghan province began in August 2006. Since then 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed there.
The split came after a build-up of tension over several weeks between Mr Balkenende and Mr Bos, mainly over Afghanistan and the government's earlier political support for the war in Iraq.
Mr Balkenende said his Christian Democratic Alliance would continue in office with the small Christian Union and would "make available" Labour's seats in the Cabinet.
Political analysts said early elections appeared inevitable. The coalition, elected to a four-year term, would have marked its third year in office on Monday.
The political outcome also left uncertainty over the fate of the 1,600 Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan. Labour demanded that Dutch troops leave Uruzgan as scheduled, but the Christian Democratic Alliance wanted to keep a reduced military presence in the province.
