Germany rules out troops to Iraq and hot spots in Afghanistan

Berlin: Germany yesterday ruled out sending combat troops to Iraq and fended off pressure to shift peacekeepers to unstable parts of southern Afghanistan.

But the government said it could expand training of Iraqi police and military personnel.

Last week US Democrats wrested control of Congress from President George W. Bush's Republican Party, partly because of dissatisfaction with his handling of the Iraq war.

Rectify the situation

Following the result, German President Horst Koehler urged Germany and Europe to do more to help rectify the situation in Iraq, which he said had become a disaster.

Asked at a government news conference if he could rule out Germany sending troops to Iraq, German Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe told reporters: "Yes".

Earlier, in a newspaper interview, government spokesman Thomas Steg had indicated that Germany would be willing to expand its training programme for Iraqi security officials.