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(AFX UK Focus) 2008-11-14 16:44
Iceland says closer to resolving deposit dispute
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REYKJAVIK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Iceland is getting closer to resolving a dispute over foreign savers' desposits in a failed bank but was "not there yet", Prime Minister Geir Haarde said on Friday.
Haarde told a news conference broadcast on Icelandic television the country was working on a negotiated settlement on so-called Icesave accounts in Landsbanki. "We're getting closer to a solution but we're not there yet," Haarde said.
Iceland hoped to take the matter to court but the European Union, which was now involved, did not want this, he said.

Thousands of British and Dutch savers have been unable to access deposits in Icesave accounts. Britain responded by seizing Landsbanki assets using anti-terrorist legislation, prompting outrage in Iceland.
The International Monetary Fund's executive board has held off from considering a $2 billion loan for Iceland while the dispute has continued. Haarde said the IMF board would consider the application after the weekend.
(Reporting by Omar Valdimarsson in Reykjavik via the Stockholm Newsroom) Keywords: ICELAND/DEPOSITS

(stockholm.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 700 1017)

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