Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday reiterated his willingness to send a military medical team to Iraq, but warned the unstable security situation there could delay their deployment.

"If the situation becomes impossible for us even to operate, we may have to delay the departure of the team to Iraq. It is only natural to do that. We have to go there to help," Abdullah told a Paris press conference.

"Let us try not to anticipate too much. When we've decided to go, we will go. We'll go for no other reason than to help the people who need medical treatment."

When asked about the size of the eventual team, the prime minister declined to give specifics, saying: "It has to be sufficiently big to enable us to do something worthwhile. It is certainly not going to be a token."

He did not say whether his country would eventually send peacekeeping troops to Iraq, instead encouraging Muslim countries in the region to "participate not only in the international force but also in the reconstruction."

Abdullah arrived in Paris late on Tuesday on his first visit to France since replacing Dr Mahathir Mohamed late last year. He was due to hold a lunch meeting with French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday.

The Malaysian prime minister was also due to meet with French business leaders on Thursday, embassy officials said.

Briefing Chirac

Abdullah arrived in France from Washington, where he said after meeting with US President George W Bush that Malaysia was prepared to rally Muslim countries to held rebuild war-torn Iraq.

The premier, who is the current chairman of both the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the 116-nation Non-Aligned Movementof developing nations, said he hoped to convey their views to Chirac.

"Perhaps in some ways he can help address some of our concerns," Abdullah said, recalling France's role as one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with Britain, China, Russia and the United States.

Malaysia strongly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq and Abdullah said after the handover of limited sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government that he hoped the UN would play a significant role in Iraq's reconstruction.

Abdullah will travel to Britain following his stay in France, and is scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.