THE HAGUE, 14/04/07 - The Netherlands has sold 100 Leopard tanks to Canada. They include 20 Leopard 2-A6s and 80 Leopard 2-A4s.

The agreement was announced Friday during Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop's visit to Canada. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, the Dutch army will provide training for Canadian instructors. The training will start in May. Canada wants to use the tanks in Afghanistan.

According to military historian Christ Klep, the fact that the Netherlands did not use the tanks in Afghanistan speaks volumes about the differences in military approach between the Netherlands and Canada. The Canadians are more active, while the Dutch do not move around so much, Klep told Radio 1.

The sale of the tanks is part of the reduction in tanks decided on earlier by the defence ministry. The Netherlands is maintaining 110 operational Leopart 2 A6 tanks.

On Thursday, Van Middelkoop attended the NATO ministerial meeting of the seven countries active in the south of Afghanistan, Regional Command South. As well as the Netherlands, these are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Romania, the UK and the US. On Friday, he had a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart.