Pro-, anti-whaling countries spout off

SANTIAGO, Chile, June 24 (UPI) -- Representatives from Australia and Japan have traded digs ahead of an international whaling meeting in Santiago, Chile, over whaling conservation.

Japan accused Australia of not wanting to save talks from collapse while Australian officials said they would not compromise on the conservation issue, the Voice of America reported.

The International Whaling Commission, during its annual meeting in Chile, is trying to move pro- and anti-whaling nations toward common ground. Several countries said an easing of the whale hunting ban was unacceptable, while others said whale populations have grown enough to permit commercial hunting.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said his country won't sign any compact that may lead to an end of the moratorium on commercial whale-hunting.

"We are absolutely strongly of the view that we do not want to see the commercial exploitation of whale populations," Garrett said.

Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese delegation, countered that Australians were trying to derail the talks.

"I think it's a huge miscalculation for the Australian minister to ... come here to this meeting with fresh demands when the rest of the IWC is trying to come up with an 11th hour solution to save it from collapse," Inwood said.