Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder last night pro-mised to deepen Germany's commitment to Iraq and offer wider help in its reconstruction following landmark elections there. "We have a lot of experience with building functional institutions for countries," Schroeder said after talks with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "And this is a kind of assistance that we would like to make available to the Iraqi government if it is desired," he said.Schroeder suggested however that Germany would not send troops to Iraq in line with a long-term commitment not to play a military role in the war-torn country. He said that Germany would continue to train Iraq's fledgling security forces outside of the country. German politicians said Rice's visit could help pave the way to improved US-German relations, strained by the war in Iraq. Hans-Ullrich Klose, a foreign relations expert for Schroeder's Social Democrats, said: "I increasingly see the chance for tensions between some European countries and the US government to improve in the near future."