OTTAWA, Feb 7: President George Bush is expected to ask Prime Minister Paul Martin to send Canadian troops Iraq when they meet later this month, according to a newspaper report.

The Toronto Star newspaper said that no decision had been made, but highly placed sources say Canada is "preparing to discuss the sensitive issue" during the Nato summit in Brussels on Feb 22.

According to observers, Canada's new openness to contributing troops is due to changing circumstances. They cite last week's elections in Iraq and the urgent need to bring peace to the region as among the important considerations.

But the Martin government's reluctance to pay the domestic political price of joining the US continental missile defence program is also said to be a factor shaping Ottawa's thinking.

Canada is eager to signal to the Bush administration that its refusal to make a decision on the missile shield reflects the realities of a minority government rather than an unwillingness to cooperate with Washington.

Joining the NATO training mission in Iraq would certainly be controversial. One of former prime minister Jean Chretien's most popular decisions was to keep Canada out of the Iraq war and Mr Martin has worked hard to dispel doubts that he would have made the same choice.