Germany to supply weapons and manpower to forces fighting ISIS, and not be involved in direct airstrikes.
Lawmakers from Germany's ruling parties will meet on Thursday afternoon to discuss how Berlin can provide more support to France in the fight against Islamic State militants following the deadly attacks in Paris.
Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Paris on Wednesday and was asked by French President Francois Hollande to do "even more" in the fight against the militants, who have seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq. She promised to respond very quickly and the meetings on Thursday are a sign Berlin is ready to step up its involvement in the Middle East.
Coalition sources said, new support measures under consideration included the deployment of German Tornado jets for reconnaissance flights and of refuelling aircraft. Germany has already signalled that it will send up to 650 additional soldiers to Mali to provide relief to the French and raise the number of army trainers for Kurdish peshmerga fighters operating in northern Iraq by up to 150. Berlin agreed last year to send arms to the Kurds. Germany is not expected to join the list of countries conducting air strikes in Syria.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking parliamentary support for extending air-strikes from Iraq to Syria. The United States, France and Russia are already conducting such strikes.
On Wednesday in a speech at the German parliament, Merkel pledged solidarity with France, both in mourning of the 130 people killed in the November 13 attacks and in France's fight against Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the killings.
She later travelled to Paris, laying a rose at the Place de la Republique, and dining with Hollande. In brief statements before the dinner, Hollande asked Germany to do "even more in the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq", using the Arab acronym for Islamic State, which is also referred to as ISIS and ISIL.
"When the French president asks me to think about what more we can do, then it is our duty to reflect on this and we will also react very quickly here," Merkel said.
Lawmakers from her conservative bloc and those from her coalition partner, the centre-left Social Democrats, were invited to attend separate meetings at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Thursday to discuss offering further military support to France.
German officials say a more active role should not be difficult to justify legally in light of multiple United Nations resolutions on Syria and France's invocation of the European Union's mutual assistance clause following the Paris attacks.
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