The head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Bronislaw Geremek, is due to have talks in Azerbaijan today Wednesday on the latest moves to resolve the long-running dispute over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.Mr Geremek, who's touring the Caucasus, said he hoped new proposals by OSCE mediators might end the deadlock.

The Armenian President, Robert Kocharyan, has said he views them as a good basis for negotiations.

A Karabakh official said the most important part was the idea of creating a common state, like a confederation where the enclave could have equal rights with the rest of Azerbaijan.

However, some Azeri officials have already rejected the proposals.

Thousands of people died in six years of bitter fighting over the enclave before a ceasefire was agreed in 1994.