Reykjavik  - Iceland was set to keep its increased whaling quota for the coming year, Fisheries Minister Steingrimur J Sigfusson said Wednesday.

The raised annual quota of 150 fin whales and 100 minke whales was announced at the end of January shortly before former Fisheries Minister Einar K Gudfinnsson left office.

Sigfusson added that it was not certain that Iceland would keep the quota for the coming five years as his predecessor had suggested.

Reykjavik - Some 100 people staged a peaceful protest Monday outside the headquarters of the central bank of Iceland, calling for the current management to resign.

Central bank governor David Oddsson, a former prime minister and foreign minister, has so far refused to step down despite regular demands for him to quit since the North Atlantic nation's main banks were nationalized in October.

Interim Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir on Friday presented a bill that provides for changes to the composition of the central bank, including replacing the three governors with a single governor.

Reykjavik  - The interim prime minister of Iceland Friday presented amendments to the composition of the central bank.

Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir presented the bill that included that the current system of three governors would be replaced with a single governor.

The position would be advertised and the governor would be required to have "completed a master's degree in economics and have extensive experience and expertise in monetary issues," the bill said.

Reykjavik - True to its word, the new Icelandic government has called for the three central bank governors to step down, Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said.

Speaking on a talk show on Icelandic television Monday evening, Sigurdadottir who took office Sunday, said she had sent a letter to the governors asking them to resign.

Reykjavik  - Talks to form an interim left-leaning government on Iceland continued Friday as the country was offered the prospect of speedy membership in the European Union.

The Social Democrats were this week given the task of forming an interim government with the Left-Green Movement. This came after mass protests forced the collapse of the government led by the conservative Independence Party and including the Social Democrats.

In addition to agreeing on a date for early elections, an interim government will need to set out a course for Iceland's stance to the European Union.