ABU DHABI (UAE) - IRANIAN Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called the current price of oil both unrealistic and unjust on Tuesday, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported.

Mr Mottaki, on a visit to the United Arab Emirates, 'said the prices are 'unreal and unjust' and the oil-producing countries should take initiatives beyond the traditional norms of Opec,' Irna said.

BEIJING - CHINA voiced its concern on Tuesday over what it said was an increasingly uncertain situation on the Korean peninsula, where close ally North Korea is pushing ahead with plans for a rocket launch.

China's foreign ministry made its strongest public comments on the recent spike in tensions surrounding North Korea shortly after the isolated nation's premier, Kim Yong-Il, landed in Beijing for a five-day visit.

TOKYO - JAPAN'S opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa said on Tuesday he would decide his future when prosecutors announced if a senior aide would be indicted in a fundraising scandal, a ruling expected within a week.

The scandal, in which the aide was arrested this month on suspicion of accepting illegal corporate donations, threatens support for Mr Ozawa's Democratic Party ahead of this year's general election, which the party had looked likely to win.