NATO troops say no more chasing Taliban. Passing out Koran instead

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL266821.htm

Dutch NATO troops take Koran on Afghan patrols

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan, July 21 (Reuters) - Dutch NATO troops taking over military operations from the United States in southern Afghanistan later this month are going out of the way to persuade sceptical locals they are on their side.

"The Dutch will still focus on security but we want to win their hearts and minds," Captain Miriam Grandia told reporters on a visit to volatile Uruzgan province on Friday.

"We will go out on patrol with the Afghan National Army and will hand out Korans to show we are not against Islam," added Grandia, one of a 1,400-strong Dutch contingent in the town of Tirin Kot. snip

Yet along with the Canadian and British troops spearheading NATO's move into the south around July 31, the Dutch say their job will not be to go out to hunt and kill the Taliban.

Instead, their main challenge is to prove to a sceptical Dutch public that they are in Afghanistan simply to help the impoverished Muslim state get back on its feet.