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Dutch coalition government deal reached

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Conservative parties in the Netherlands Parliament moved closer to a coalition deal needing the support of an anti-Islam party, government officials said.

Members of the Dutch Liberal Party accepted the agreement Wednesday after it was approved by the far-right Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders, the BBC reported.

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The other party negotiating the coalition agreement, the Christian Democrat Party, is scheduled to vote on the pact by Saturday.

The agreement is the basis of a minority Dutch Liberal Party-Christian Democrat cabinet supported by the Freedom Party, Radio Netherlands reported.

Wilder said even if his party didn't enter government, it still would wield "enormous influence," the British broadcaster said.

Under the arrangement, Dutch Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte would be prime minister, forming a cabinet with Maxime Verhagen's Christian Democrats.

Rutte called the agreement one that would make the Netherlands stronger as it emerged from the economic crisis, Radio Netherlands said.

A caretaker government has been running the Netherlands since February, when a coalition led by the Christian Democrats' former leader, Jan Peter Balkenende, collapsed after a disagreement over military involvement in Afghanistan.

Wilders has said he wants to ban construction of mosques, place a tax on the Muslim veil and end all Muslim immigration to the Netherlands, the BBC said. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

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