The decision was taken in line with a Greek request for assistance from NATO to boost security at the August 13-29 Games in the wake of the March 11 bombings in Madrid, the Turkish foreign ministry said in a written statement.

"It has been decided that two teams of nuclear, biological and chemical decontamination teams, one from the army and one from the interior ministry, be on stand-by in Turkey to be sent over to Greece if the need arises during the course of the Olympic Games," the statement read.

Concerns over safety at the Athens Games have increased amid tensions in Iraq and the Middle East, as well as a number of minor bomb attacks which officials have blamed on local extremist groups.

Athens is spending one billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) on security and NATO will be on stand-by to help with air and sea surveillance as well as provide specialists for dealing with chemical, biological and nuclear warfare.

Strained relations between North Atlantic Treaty Organizationpartners Greece and Turkey have improved significantly since 1999 when the two countries helped each other after devastating earthquakes.

But they are still at loggerheads over territorial and air control rights in the Aegean which separates the two countries.

WAR.WIRE