The deadline for Dutch state protection for Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the US was extended twice in the past year to give the former Dutch MP time to sort out her own security measures, says justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin in a letter to parliament on Thursday.

Although the Dutch government is willing to pay for her security in the Netherlands, it had made it clear that it would only continue to do so as a temporary arrangement after Hirsi Ali left for the US in September last year, reports ANP news service. The government has discussed this issue with Hirsi Ali on six occasions in the past year, said ANP.
Earlier it emerged that Hirsch Ballin had told the former MP in a letter at the end of last year that she was not in any specific danger in the US, according to media reports.
A copy of the letter is in the hands of tv station RTL.
Hirsi Ali returned to the Netherlands on Monday after the Dutch state stopped funding her round-the-clock protection in the US. The state is paying for her security in the Netherlands.