Prague  - The Czech parliament's lower house Friday rejected a government proposal outlining troop deployments abroad in 2009, in a move threatening troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Kosovo by March.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government failed to muster the needed 101 votes in the house, which rejected the deployments in a 99- 75 vote.

Amsterdam  - Dutch Chief of Staff Peter van Uhm on Friday confirmed the death of a Dutch soldier in Afghanistan earlier on Friday.

Van Uhm said 24-year-old Sergeant Mark Weijdt probably stepped on a roadside bomb during a confrontation with Taliban fighters.

Another soldier sustained mild injuries.

The soldier was the 18th Dutch soldier to die in Afghanistan since the start of the Dutch mission.

A total of 1,200 Dutch troops have been stationed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).

Yousuf Shahwani, President of Oil Tankers Association, claimed that over the last two years at least 50 oil tanker drivers had died as a result of attacks by militants during transportation of goods to Afghanistan.

"Just tell me, what do we get when we sacrifice our lives? Things are pretty good for the contractors but not for us," he told The News. "Nothing is insured in our business. There is not even a single driver who is properly insured" Shahwani added.

Amsterdam - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende says he would consider a possible US request for a new Dutch contribution to the International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

Speaking in a late night Dutch television show on Thursday, Balkenende said US president-elect Barack Obama's advisors have given indications the US might ask the Dutch to maintain their military presence in Afghanistan after the current Dutch mission ends in August 2010.

Obama has already indicated on several occasions he will send more US troops to Afghanistan.

It is widely expected the US is going to request the European Union countries to strengthen their participation in ISAF as well.

Kabul - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, who was scheduled Friday to visit Kabul for the first time for talks with his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, has canceled his trip because of bad weather, the Afghan presidential palace said.

"Due to bad weather in Kabul and low visibility at the airport, President Zardari cancelled his trip to Kabul today," Simak Herawi, a presidential palace spokesman said.

Islamabad, Dec 19 : Elements in the ISI are engaging with the groups that support the Taliban and are killing American, NATO and Afghan troops, according to a US think tank report.

The report by the bipartisan Pakistan Policy Working Group also cites the Afghan government's allegations that the ISI-supported elements had orchestrated an assassination attempt on Hamid Karzai, and that the ISI had a role in the July 7 car bombing of Indian embassy in Kabul.

"All of this suggests that the ISI is no longer certain the coalition forces will prevail in Afghanistan and that it is using militants groups in an attempt to expand its own influence," the Daily Times quoted the report, as saying.