kmail cannot send email (was: klauncher said: Unknown protocol 'smtps')

["René J.V. Bertin"]

Here's another log entry that might help at pinpointing the reason kmail fails to send email on my system:

Mar 14 11:32:52 portia [0x0-0x2b02b].kmail[0]: akonadi_maildispatcher_agent(1168): couldn't create slave: "Unable to create io-slave:
Mar 14 11:32:52 portia [0x0-0x2b02b].kmail[0]: akonadi_maildispatcher_agent(1168): couldn't create slave: "Unable to create io-slave:
Mar 14 11:32:52 portia [0x0-0x2b02b].kmail[0]: klauncher said: Unknown protocol 'smtps'.
Mar 14 11:32:52 portia [0x0-0x2b02b].kmail[0]: "

Can anyone actually use kmail, also for sending email?