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Geneva: Deadlocked global trade talks will fail unless countries can find compromise in the coming hours, the chair of World Trade Organisation negotiations said on Friday.
"This is the blunt reality ... The situation is critical, edging between success and failure," WTO chief Pascal Lamy told delegates at the talks, according to his spokesman.
"Time is running out and the next 24 hours are crucial."
Trade ministers from around the world have made little progress since talks began on Monday aimed at saving the long-delayed 'Doha' trade round which seeks to liberalise trade by reducing import tariffs and trade distorting subsidies.
A group of seven ministers representing the world's major exporters was reconvened for talks that European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said were a chance for "one final attempt to close the gaps".
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