Senior members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat Party said Germany could step up its involvement in Iraq if the United States government changes its policy in the wake of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. 

"It's in Germany's fundamental interest that the situation in the Middle East doesn't deteriorate further," CDU foreign policy spokesman Eckart von Klaeden told Berliner Zeitung newspaper. He added that he could imagine Germany and the EU increasing their civil reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

But he added that US President George W. Bush first had to declare his future strategy for Iraq.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is due to meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday to talk about the Middle East. It is thought that he will offer Germany's help in setting up direct negotiations between the US and Iran and Syria.

The head of the foreign policy committee of the German parliament's lower house, Ruprecht Polenz, said the US should follow the Baker report's recommendation to involve Iran and Syria in a new strategy to end the insurgency in Iraq. Polenz said he would welcome a German effort to make that happen.

The opposition Green party said German civilian workers could be sent to Iraq if the security situation improved. "But whatever happens no German soldiers will be sent to Iraq," said Greens defense policy spokesman Winfried Nachtwei.

The Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker, on Wednesday released its long awaited report on the increasingly chaotic situation in Iraq. And one of its central recommendations was, as expected, to talk directly with two of President George W. Bush's most hated countries: Syria and Iran.

Germany has helped Iraq by forgiving some Iraqi debt and training Iraqi military and police officials in the United Arab Emirates. It has steadfastly refused to send troops to Iraq. The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and the resulting occupation have been extremely unpopular in Germany. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder won a general election in 2002 on his opposition to an invasion.

Bush on Thursday seemed to distance himself from key elements of the report, rejecting the idea of opening direct talks with Iran and Syria and resisting the idea of troop withdrawals until Washington's goals are met.

He said talks with Iran and Syria are possible only if the countries meet certain conditions. In the case of Iran, that means suspending a nuclear-enrichment program, and for Syria, stopping the flow of money to insurgents in Iraq and halting destabilization efforts in Lebanon.

"There should be no mistake in anybody's mind. These countries understand our position. They know what's expected of them," Bush said during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "And the truth of the matter is that these countries have now got the choice to make. If they want to sit down at the table with the United States, it's easy. Just make some decisions that will lead to peace, not to conflict."