December 27, 2001	Thursday	Shawwal 11, 1422

KARACHI, Dec 26: Pakistan will hold talks with Iraq next week in a bid to save a 64,000-ton wheat export deal, a Commerce Ministry official said on Wednesday.

The official said during the talks Pakistan would offer Iraq to replace the 64,000-ton wheat shipment, which was rejected by Baghdad on quality grounds.

He said the new shipment would be based on quality guidelines proposed by Iraq, giving Pakistan 90 days to meet the standards.

Pakistan signed a deal with Iraq last March for 100,000 tons of wheat under the UN oil for food programme to Iraq.

Baghdad accepted the first 31,000 tons shipment but the deal floundered when two subsequent shipments were rejected in Sept due to the presence of more dust and sand particles.—Reuters