"The use of Georgian military infrastructure, in particular air bases, by US forces in their anti-Iraq campaign, has been discussed by both sides," Deputy Defence Minister, Gela Bezhuashvili, told AFP.

"President Eduard Shevardnadze has repeatedly said that Georgia is an active member of the anti-Iraq coalition and in these conditions such a prospect is forseeable, even if no official US request has been made yet," he added.

The US embassy in Tbilisi, however, denied local media reports that US military experts had already visited an airfield in Georgia with a view to using it for operations in Iraq.

A regional presidential envoy, Temur Shashiashvili, told a newspaper last week that US experts had visited the Kopitnar military airfield, which is about 500 kilometers (300 miles) north of Iraq, "twice in the past few days."

Georgia, which is seeking closer ties with the United States to counterbalance Russian influence, is one of more than 30 countries that have openly declared support for the operation in Iraq which started on March 20th.

US military personnel have been in Georgia since last year, training local troops in antiterrorist techniques.

SPACE.WIRE