No German soldiers to be sent to Iraq: spokesman

Germany had no plan to send troops or military trainers to Iraq, deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Friday.

"There will be no German soldiers, military trainers or experts sent to Iraq," Steg said, following reports that U.S. Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld had called for German soldiers to serve in the country.

The Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported that Rumsfeld had, at the end of 2005, once again urged German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung to send military trainers to Baghdad.

"Germany will only support the reconstruction of a democratic Iraq in the humanitarian areas and will help train Iraqi police and soldiers outside the country," said Steg.

Germany, under the leadership of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, strongly opposed the Iraq war. Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far maintained the policy of keeping all German personnel out of Iraq.

Germany is currently training Iraqi troops and police in the United Arab Emirates or in Germany.

Source: Xinhua