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| Belgian prime minister 'to quit' | Belgian prime minister 'to quit' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has decided to resign after a key partner withdrew from his governing coalition. | Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has decided to resign after a key partner withdrew from his governing coalition. |
| Mr Leterme had gone to King Albert to tender his government's resignation following an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, officials said. | Mr Leterme had gone to King Albert to tender his government's resignation following an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, officials said. |
| It is not clear whether the king will accept Mr Leterme's resignation. | It is not clear whether the king will accept Mr Leterme's resignation. |
| The collapse of the government threw into doubt the scheduled parliamentary debate on a law that would ban full-face Muslim veils being worn in public. | |
| It would have been the first such law introduced by a European country. | |
| The coalition fell apart after the Flemish liberal party, Open VLD, withdrew over a long-running dispute on the rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels. | |
| "There was no other choice but for the government to resign," Finance Minister Didier Reynders told reporters. | |
| It is the third time Mr Leterme, 49, has offered his resignation to the king. | |
| The first time, in July 2008, he offered to quit because of failures to patch up the rift between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and French-speaking Walloons. | |
| The king refused to accept his resignation - but accepted it in December the same year, amid allegations that the government had interfered with the courts. | |
| Mr Leterme, however, returned as prime minister after his replacement, Herman von Rompuy, was elected president of the European Council. | |
| The king was said to be considering his response to the latest move. He could ask the prime minister to try to form another administration. If that fails, elections could follow. |