Dutch govt steps down over immigration minister row

AMSTERDAM, June 29 (Reuters) Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will tender his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix after a party quit the ruling coalition in a row over the immigration minister, Dutch media reported today.

The smallest coalition member, D66, withdrew its support from the coalition earlier today following dissatisfaction over Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk's tough stance on the citizenship of a Somali-born Dutch politician.

Verdonk came under pressure to resign after she had threatened to strip Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Dutch citizenship for lying about her name, age and refugee status on arrival in the Netherlands in 1992.

D66, the smallest member of the centre-right government coalition that had been trying to boost its flagging profile ahead of a national election in May 2007, pulled the plug on its support for the administration after the rejection of a bill of no confidence against Verdonk earlier on Thursday.

''A rift was created with my party and I feel there is no other way but to withdraw support for this government,'' D66 party leader Lousewies van der Laan told parliament.

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