WTO head Lamy says trade deal within reach

GENEVA, Sep 9 (Reuters) WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy today said a global trade deal was now within reach but that political leaders needed to lend their support to complete the ongoing round of negotiations.

''A deal is now do-able but we need a final push, which needs leaders' constant attention and mobilisation,'' Lamy said at a security conference.

Trade diplomats returned to the negotiating table in Geneva earlier this week in an attempt to wrap up the so-called Doha Round, named after the Qatari capital where negotiations were launched in November 2001.

Lamy has repeatedly urged countries to wrap up the talks by the end of this year to avoid having the negotiations run into the US presidential election year, when Washington is expected to have little flexibility to negotiate.

REUTERS SW BST1305