BERLIN, Aug 3 (AFP) - Germany and the United Arab Emirates will work together to help train hundreds of soldiers in the new Iraqi army, the daily Die Welt said in an early release of its Wednesday edition.
The newspaper quoted a UAE foreign ministry spokesman as saying that Germany would send around 100 five-tonne trucks and personnel to the UAE so that the soldiers could train with the vehicles.
The spokesman, who was not named, said the agreement was reached last week during a visit to UAE by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
The costs of the project are to be divided with Germany paying for the vehicles and trainers, while the UAE will meet the travel and accomodation costs of the Iraqi soldiers, Die Welt said.
A German government spokesman confirmed that talks had been taking place and that Berlin would probably make around 100 vehicles available for use by the Iraqi army, without providing further details.
Germany said at a NATO summit a month ago that it would not send troops to Iraq to help it rebuild its nascent and overburdened military, but it also said that it would not block any attempts by the Alliance to do so.
Under heavy pressure to play a role from the United States, whose troops are under daily attack in Iraq, Berlin had been expected to help train higher-ranking Iraqi officers on German soil.
Germany and the UAE began working together in March to train around 130 Iraqi police officers and the move, if confirmed, would mark an increase in their cooperation.