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Ghali hopes early solution

to Iraq talks

TOKYO: United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told a news conference on Friday that he hoped for an early solution to the food-for-oil talks with Iraq, which are set to resume this Monday.

He said that the longer it took to find a solution, the harder it would be to reach an agreement.

He said that "with goodwill, we (both sides) will find a solution", and added that they must not underestimate the difficulties.

The secretary-general was responding to questions about Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, who told a French newspaper on Thursday that remaining difficulties between the two sides were so great that an agreement might not be reached during Monday's third round of negotiations and a fourth round might be necessary.

The United Nations and Iraq are due to resume negotiations on a limited Iraqi oil sale which would allow Baghdad to sell $2 billion worth of oil over six months to buy emergency humanitarian supplies.

The third round of talks for the scheme, first proposed in resolution 986 in April 1995, is scheduled to begin on Monday.

The two parties have not been able to find a compromise on the most thorny issue, which is how aid should be distributed to three rebel-controlled Kurdish provinces.-Reuter