Germany has announced it is considering sending around 100 soldiers to northern Iraq to train peshmerga forces who are fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told journalists at the Federal Press Centre: "A political agreement has been reached among the relevant ministries on a training mission."
"Our goal is now to take the final decision by the cabinet before the Christmas break."
Defense Ministry spokesman Jens Flosdorff said about 100 soldiers would take part in the planned mission that would provide training mainly to peshmerga forces and Iraqi Ezidi and Christian fighters allied with the peshmerga.
The German government began supplying military supplies to Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga troops in September, but Berlin ruled out sending troops to the region to fight ISIL.
