Dutch queen asks Liberal leader to form cabinet

AMSTERDAM Oct 7 (Reuters) - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on Thursday asked Liberal leader Mark Rutte to form a cabinet, the Dutch news agency ANP reported.

Rutte will head a centre-right coalition with the Christian Democrat party, supported in parliament by the anti-Islam Freedom Party of Geert Wilders.

It will be the first post-war minority government and Rutte will be the first Liberal prime minister since 1918.

The government aims to cut the budget by 18 billion euros ($25 billion) and get the state deficit to within European Union limits by 2013. It also aims to ban face-covering veils such as the burqa and to make immigration rules stricter.

Political analysts see only a small chance of this government serving a full four-year term.