Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Friday denied that the government is considering trying to resolve a 61-year bilateral row over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido by splitting them with Russia, indicating his recent remark to that effect was taken out of context.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'There is no truth to a –

report that the government is actually considering a proposal to split the total area (of the four islands) in half," Aso told reporters.

Aso said he was simply responding to questions by Seiji Maehara, former president of the Democratic Party of Japan, during a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee session Wednesday. Aso said Maehara asked him if he was aware of the total area of the territory involved.

A major Japanese newspaper reported Thursday that Aso made a new proposal to draw a border through the islands of Etorofu, Shikotan, Kunashiri and the Habomai islets, based on a 50-50 split.

According to the paper, Maehara told Aso that even if the four isles were divided in half, they should still be recognized as Japanese.

Aso reportedly said in response, "If we divide the . . . territories, this would mean about 25 percent of Etorofu and the three remaining islands (will constitute one half of the total area)."

"We will go nowhere if we debate (the return of) "two islands" or "three islands" or "four islands" without considering their size. We should negotiate based on reality," he said.

His comment caused a stir, with the Japanese media interpreting it as a new proposal for Japan and Russia to share the islands, in a departure of Tokyo's stance to date of demanding the return of all the islands. Russian media also carried Aso's remark.

Soviet forces seized Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islets near the end of World War II and they remain under Moscow's control. Japan claims they are part of its sovereign territory.