An advance group of Fiji soldiers is on its way to Iraq to investigate the situation in Baghdad before a larger detachment is sent to serve as United Nations peacekeepers.
The UN had asked Fiji if it was interested in providing peacekeepers for duties in Iraq earlier this year.
Radio Fiji reports almost all of the officers earmarked for the mission have been UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and Sinai and are conversant with the Arabic lifestyle and language.
A number of Fijian soldiers have been working in Iraq as security guards.
