Perhaps he ought to schedule a meeting with Asarem, or even First Minister Shakaar Edon, to discuss how best to get the talks restarted.

On Sunday, a Microsoft spokesman agreed that the talks had restarted and said the company was pleased that they were continuing.

But the agreement amounted to little more than a consensus that the talks must restart.

The Cabinet must prove that's not the case before talks can restart, the European Commission said yesterday.

It was not clear whether any concessions had been granted to get the talks restarted.

Even after the news conferences, some people in hockey were clinging to the possibility that talks could restart and a compromise could be reached.

If the interim deal can be achieved here, after more than 19 months of stalemate, talks on a permanent settlement will immediately restart.

Regarding Exercise Landsea '89 there is a political stalemate, and talks between various countries will restart tomorrow morning.

The actual talks may, it is reported, restart in May 2010 when the new Greek prime minister will have more space for negotiations.

As recently as two weeks ago, a key demand on Mr. Milosevic for getting the talks restarted was withdrawal of security units used against ethnic Albanian civilians.