Wim Kok led his government into mass resignation

Mr De Grave and all his cabinet colleagues stood down after crisis talks on Tuesday.

General Van Baal was the second-highest ranking officer in the army at the time of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, when up to 8,000 men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces.

News of his resignation came as the Dutch parliament met to decide how the country should be run until a general election is held on 15 May.

Prime Minister Wim Kok and most of his team of ministers are expected to stay on in caretaker roles.

The election date had already been set before the Srebrenica crisis took hold, and Mr Kok had already decided not to stand for re-election.

'Mission impossible'

In his resignation statement on Tuesday, Mr Kok said he was resigning now to take responsibility for what had happened at Srebrenica.

The international community "is anonymous and cannot take responsibility", he said. "I can and I do."

Up to 8,000 men and boys were killed

The report on the massacre accused ministers of sending lightly-armed and ill-trained Dutch peacekeepers to protect the enclave, with no clear mandate. It described the operation as a "mission impossible".

The report also criticised senior military figures and the United Nations itself.

Wednesday's parliamentary session is expected to approve a caretaker government made up of the same centre-left parties.

The effect of the mass resignation on Dutch voters remains to be seen.

Political fallout

Mr Kok's left-wing coalition, which had been running the country since 1994, had already slipped in popularity.

The coalition parties include Mr Kok's PvdA Labour party, the free market liberals of the VVD and reformist D66 parties.

Commentators are predicting a tough election campaign which will now begin early.

"Competition between the major (coalition) parties will become stronger now that they are free to fight each other in the run-up to the elections," said Alis Koekkoek, professor of constitutional law at Tilburg University.

Some opposition politicians have also questioned whether friction between the parties might have been the real reason for the mass resignation.

And far right newcomer Pim Fortuyn criticised Mr Kok for resigning, saying he was "walking away".