Korac confirmed that Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic had expressed Belgrade's willingness to contribute to UN missions during a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York last week.

Annan had welcomed the offer, Korac said, adding that it was "politcally very important" for Serbia to reintegrate with the international community after the sanctions and wars of the 1990s.

The deputy prime minister said Serbian peacekeepers would "change the image of our country and our army in the eyes of the international community".

Serbia has begun far-reaching reforms of its military to bring it under tighter civilian control and prepare for eventual membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Korac's comments came after local media reported that Zivkovic had offered 1,000 Serbian troops to serve with the US-led coalition in Iraq during talks with top US officials last week.

Government officials refused to confirm or deny the reports, saying the prime minister would provide more information at a press conference on Thursday.

A small number of military observers and medics from the army of Serbia and Montenegro -- the loose Balkan union which replaced the disbanded Yugoslavia earlier this year -- are currently serving with the UN in East Timor and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

WAR.WIRE