A former head of the Dutch intelligence agency and counterterrorism office emerged Tuesday as the surprise nominee to become the Netherlands' next prime minister, after he was given the backing of leaders cobbling together a four-party coalition headed by Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom.
Dick Schoof, the 67-year-old former head of the General Intelligence and Security Service and currently the top civil servant at the Ministry of Security and Justice, met with the leaders of the four parties before they announced he was their choice for prime minister at a late afternoon news conference.
