Louvre can now build pyramid

Plans for development of the Louvre museum can go ahead, now that a Cabinetminister has agreed to a compromise deal about his offices in part of the building, the government said yesterday. The scheme, part of President Francois Mitterrand's ambitious cultural project for Paris, involves building a glass pyramid in the Louvre's courtyard linking the wings of the 19th-century palace.

The plan appeared to be foundering after Mr. Mitterrand's Socialist government was toppled by a Conservative coalition a year ago.

The dispute between the Presidentand right-wing Finance Minister Edouard Balladur, who refused to move out of his plush Louvre offices to make way for the builders, has been settled, the Finance Ministry said yesterday.

Completion of the pyramid will take about 10 years.