BERLIN, Jan 26: The five-nation Eurocorps army will be able to take over leadership of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan at the end of the year, German Defence Minister Peter Struck said on Monday.

Mr Struck said Eurocorps - made up of troops from Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain - will be "militarily ready" to take charge of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is currently led by the NATO alliance.

Speaking at a security conference in Berlin, Mr Struck said the Eurocorps members would propose to NATO at next month's Munich security conference that they be allowed to take control of ISAF.

Created in 1992, Eurocorps is a 60,000-strong force headquartered in the French city of Strasbourg. It was recognised by NATO in 2002 as a rapid reaction force and has taken part in NATO-led operations in Bosnia and Kosovo.

On Saturday, the French defence ministry proposed that Eurocorps commanding officers be made available to assist Nato-led operations in Afghanistan. "The question is being studied jointly with the alliance, but no decision has been taken, since that the question concerns all countries participating in Eurocorps," defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said.-AFP