The Dutch defense ministry and parliament went into a collision course on Friday, April 10, over the appointment of a Muslim imam as an army chaplain.
"We can't just undo his appointment based on a feeling," deputy defense minister Jack de Vries told NRC Handelsblad daily.
"We need a legal basis that just isn't there."
The defense ministry appointed Wednesday two Muslim imams of Turkish and Moroccan origins as army chaplains.
The swearing-in of the two chaplains, Soud Aydin and Ali Eddaoudi, were supposed to be held Thursday.
But the swearing-in ceremony was postponed after the parliament objected the Eddaoudi's appointment, citing his "radical" views.
The defense ministry says the Muslim chaplains could be sent on missions outside the Netherlands, in particular to Afghanistan where 1,600 Dutch troops are based.
The Dutch army employs 150 chaplains, including 50 Protestant pastors, 40 Roman Catholic almoners, humanist representatives, two rabbis and two Hindus.
Muslims make up one million of the Netherlands's 16 million population, mostly from Turkish and Moroccan origin.
No figures are available for the number of Muslims or people of Muslim origin in the Dutch army.
Outspoken
Eddaoudi is known for his criticism of the Netherlands and the West.
Last year, he criticized Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, describing him as "a Christian and a hypocrite".
He also said that "Christians are still at war with Islam".
In 2007, he wrote an opinion piece in which he criticized the Dutch mission in Afghanistan.
"The Dutch, Americans and British have no business being in the Islamic world," Eddaoudi wrote.
He also defended the Taliban as "a proud people" who will never stop fighting the US-led foreign forces.
He also said that more and more Dutch soldiers would come home in body bags as long as western soldiers perpetrate "violence and humiliation" against the Afghan population.
The US invaded Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks to topple the Taliban and its ally Al-Qaeda.
Eight years later, the country remains gripped by almost daily attacks.