WJers held last-ditch talks yesto agree an action plan to tac global food crisis, after thr, of wrangling that has exprains over how to pre-ver»r and poverty.

aft summit declaration obtyAFP, they vowed to use "alls" to help victims of sotyrices, which have streamily budgets in rich cound sparked food riots in nth>

Hraft includes tompro-umiage notably on the

vexed issue of biofuels, which are promoted in Brazil and the United States but criticised by others as taking up land that could otherwise be used to produce food.

Hours before the final declaration was due to be agreed in Rome - a final press conference was scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) -- EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel warned against short-term fixes.

"We mustn't give in to panic . to surrender to the temptation lor short-term solutions, even if we have to respond to a situation of

distress." he told the summit.

The wrangling over diplomatic language came after UN officials announced almost three billion dollars (two billion euros) of new aid to help ease the food crisis.

Those new pledges were welcomed, but UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned that up to 20 billion dollars a year would be needed. "We simply cannot afford to fail," he told the summit hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Food prices have doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots in Egypt and Haiti and in many African nations. Brazil. Vietnam, India and Egypt have all imposed food export restrictions.

Ihe first day of the summit Tuesday saw colourful remarks by the presidents of Iran and Zimbabwe about Western pressure, while there has been plenty of criticism of rich countries' protection of their markets.

But by Wednesday. John Holmes, head of the UN task force on the crisis, said a "broad consensus" was building around an action plan, which is scheduled to be presented at a Group of Eight meeting in Japan laterthismon