Azerbaijan and Georgia were starting talks in London Tuesday over a tariffs dispute that has been holding up agreement on a multibillion dollars pipeline to ship gas from the Azeri offshore field of Shah Deniz to Turkey. The delay is threatening Azerbaijan's agreement signed earlier this year to supply some 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to Turkey starting in 2004-2005 and rising to 6.6 bcm by around 2008. According to the Financial Times Tuesday, Azerbaijan thought it sealed a deal on transit fees with Georgia when offering a rate of Dlrs 2 per 1,000 cubic meters and was preparing a signing ceremony with President Edward Shevardnadze in Baku at the end of July. But Georgia was reported now to be insisting that it should receive at least Dlrs 5 per 1,000 cubic meters to correspond with international rates, recommended by the World Bank. The Financial Times said that the operator of Shah Deniz, BP, which is sending a representative to the London negotiations, was warning that that the pipeline through Georgia could be seriously delayed if an agreement is not reached by the end of September. (IRNA)