Almost 40 Iraqis wounded in a deadly Al-Qaeda hostage crisis in a Baghdad church are to be flown to France for hospital treatment.

Almost 40 Iraqis wounded in a deadly Al-Qaeda hostage crisis in a Baghdad church are to be flown to France for hospital treatment, the French embassy in the Iraqi capital said on Saturday.

"There are 37 people who were wounded in the October 31 attack and 20 others accompanying them. Their departure is planned for Monday morning on a hospital plane," the diplomat told AFP, adding the figure was not final.

"The wounded will be sent to different hospitals in France, especially Paris," said the diplomat, who asked not to be named. He said it was unclear if the Iraqis would be allowed to stay on in France after their treatment.

France had announced a day after the church bloodbath that it was ready to take in 150 Iraqis, with the priority going to those wounded in the attack and their families.