AMSTERDAM, 04/02/06 - The lost memory stick with information about the Dutch troops in Afghanistan contains the confidential 'rules of engagement' made by NATO countries for their missions. This has been determined by terrorism expert Dick Leurdijk.

The USB stick was lost by an army captain and found its way to the media. Defence Minister Henk Kamp still claimed on Thursday that the rules of engagement were not on the memory stick. However, Leurdijk contradicts this after studying the secret information. "This is actually unbelievable. This material is so explosive," he said in the TV programme Actienieuws broadcast by SBS6.

Leurdijk, who is associated with the prestigious Clingendael Institute for International Relations, claimed that the stick also contains information about the operating area in Uruzgan. The Netherlands will be sending 1200 troops there for two years starting in June. The stick states where action must be taken and where possible groups of hostile fighters are located. He concluded that the leakage represents an "enormous blow" to Dutch credibility internationally.

A spokesman for Kamp, who has meanwhile suspended the captain involved, said in a reaction that the rules of engagement had not been found in the information that had been examined "until now" by the military police and the military intelligence service MIVD. But "the inquiry is taking place meticulously and is not yet complete," he added.

The loss of the stick caused MPs to fear that foreign intelligence services would lose confidence in the Netherlands. The Lower House will discuss the matter next week.

Actienieuws revealed that several copies of the USB stick in question were in circulation. The broadcaster had one copy itself. To protect its source, the editorial team would not explain how it obtained the stick.