PENPIX-Top negotiators in the WTO's failed Doha round push

(Reuters) - Following are brief descriptions of the top negotiators who failed after more than a week of strained talks this week to agree on the basis for a long-sought World Trade Organisation treaty.

PASCAL LAMY, WTO DIRECTOR-GENERAL

The Frenchman and former European Union trade commissioner became head of the WTO in September 2005, nine months after the Doha round was originally meant to have concluded.

Known for his endurance as a marathon runner, Lamy stretched negotiations well into the night almost from the start of the talks, exhausting ministers and the officials supporting them.

Lamy was personally involved in sensitive talks over the European Union's banana tariffs, which were spun off into a separate accord between the bloc and Latin American producers announced on the sidelines of the Geneva talks.

He told WTO staff in an e-mail before the gruelling talks they should eat bananas and bread to keep their energy up.

One reason he was seen to be pushing so hard was to redeem his professional reputation, not wanting to be the first director-general in the WTO's history to oversee the collapse of a round of global trade talks.

SUSAN SCHWAB, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Since becoming the United States' top trade negotiator in June 2006, Schwab has worked aggressively to conclude bilateral free trade deals with Peru, Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, some of which have proved unpopular in the U.S. Congress.