Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew says Canada has no intention of sending troops to Iraq.

His response came after reports that Prime Minister Paul Martin will be asked by U.S. President George Bush to deploy 40 Canadian troops to help with reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the matter at this month's NATO summit in Belgium.

"We are already contributing to the training of Iraqi police forces here in Jordan, so we will see what the NATO summit leads to. Our reconstruction contribution will be significant," Pettigrew told CTV's Question Period from Amman, Jordan.

He said he was not ruling out sending more troops to help with the reconstruction efforts outside of the violence-ravaged country.

He maintained that Martin has not strayed from his original position on keeping Canadian forces out of Iraq.

"Prime Minister Martin has always been very clear that our contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq would not bring boots to the ground," he said.

Both Conservative and NDP leaders expressed their reservations about sending Canadian troops to Iraq.

"This was an invasion that Canadians opposed," NDP Leader Jack Layton said.

Layton told CTV's Rosemary Thompson that the move would be a dangerous one, and a reversal of position on the part of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

On Saturday Conservative Stephen Harper warned that the Liberal government will pay a "severe price" if it sends Canadian troops to Iraq.

"I remembered how the prime minister attacked us during the federal election for wanting to spend more on defence," Harper told reporters in Halifax.

"I sat through an election campaign where the prime minister accused me of having secret plans to send troops to Iraq. If it turns out he has secret plans, this has to be one of the biggest election deceptions in history."

However, Harper didn't rule out supporting such an initiative if he could be convinced it was safe.

The Toronto Star reported Saturday that a small contingent of 40 Canadian troops would be sent abroad, joining another 300 NATO forces -- if Martin agrees.

The news came days after Bush's state of the union address.

In it, he called on his allies for more foreign aid and support for Iraq's new government after a Jan. 30 election that Bush deemed "a great and historic achievement."

The mandate of the Canadian troops would be to help train Iraqi troops and prepare the violence-ravaged country for the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops.

The Star reports that sources have told it Canada is considering the notion more favourably after last weekend's successful elections in Iraq.

The Prime Minister's Office told CTV they haven't had an official request yet.

If it did happen and Martin agrees to the request, "it could be fireworks in the House," Thompson reported.

"I spoke to two opposition leaders today. They both said that Parliament should be consulted before this happens. They both want a vote in the House of Commons."

The decision would be controversial following the move by former prime minister Jean Chretien to keep Canada out of the war -- a move political analysts said alienated Chretien and Canada from Bush and the United States.

France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Greece banned their nationals from participating in training efforts -- even when NATO increased its training troops from 60 to 300, the Star reported.

Earlier this week, Pettigrew said Canada stands behind its southern neighbour.

"We share a lot of priorities with the President of the United States," Pettigrew told reporters on Parliament Hill.

"He can certainly count on Canada to be a steadfast partner in fighting terrorism around the world."

But in October 2004, Martin expressed his hesitance to commit any Canadian troops to Iraq.

"There's a limit to our resources," Martin said at the time.

"And that's why I'm putting the focus right now on Afghanistan, on Haiti.

"Whatever it is that we do, I really want to see us do it in an area that makes a difference," Martin said.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press