31.   Kim told Mori on Saturday that he had the impression during the June North-South summit that Kim Jong Il was eager to normalize ties with Japan.

32.   Officials of the two governments, which are partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, were eager to normalize ties.

33.   On Wednesday, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that the United States was ready to start normalizing ties with Iran.

34.   Paek also will meet his Japanese counterpart, Yohei Kono, in the highest-level talks between the two nations, on resuming negotiations to try to normalize diplomatic ties.

35.   Prime Minister Abdul-Karim Kabariti said Tuesday the Mideast peace process was facing a crisis and hinted that Jordan could suspend its moves to normalize ties with Israel.

36.   Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who wants to normalize ties with Iraq and start trade with it, remained mostly quiet.

37.   Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani told reporters that the EU had urged the GCC to normalize ties with Israel.

38.   Sheik Hamad said after the meeting that the EU also had urged the GCC to normalize ties with Israel.

39.   The EU has sought to normalize ties following the inauguration of President Mohammad Khatami last August.

40.   The government gave no immediate response Friday to news reports that President Bill Clinton is expected to announce next week that he will normalize ties with Hanoi.