Berlin - Germany is providing financial support for a United Nations project to promote reconciliation among Iraq's rival ethnic and religious groups, the foreign ministry said Saturday.

Some 3 million euros (3.75 million dollars) will flow into the programme under an agreement signed in Baghdad Saturday by the German embassy and representatives of the UN mission in Iraq UNAMI.

The scheme is intended to promote dialogue and training courses for political representatives and local non-governmental organizations working for reconciliation in regions of ethnic conflict.

Among the areas targeted by the project is northern Iraq, where Kurdish, Turkmen and Arab groups are all staking claims for power. Minority Christians and Kurdish-speaking Yazidis have been affected by the dispute.

UNAMI, set up in 2007, has been providing training and equipment to the Ministry of National Dialogue in Baghdad. (dpa)