Honecker admits to a slip-up

BERLIN - Erich Honecker, still holed up in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, has admitted that perhaps not everything was perfect in the East German state he used to lead, writes Adrian Bridge.

'We did not always have enough bananas,' he writes in a newly published selection of memoirs. 'But most people lived better - and certainly more securely - than in today's 'free market'.'

German officials are now hopeful that Mr Honecker, who fled to Moscow early last year, will return this autumn to face charges in connection with the shootings of would-be escapers at the Berlin Wall.