United Press International looked doomed to die Friday after creditors rejected evangelist Pat Robertson's final offer for the ailing wire service.

Religious broadcaster Robertson dropped a tentative $6 million bid for the 84-year-old wire service Wednesday and made a revised offer of $500,000 for the UPI name and its photo archives.But the creditors' lawyer, Cary Samowitz, speaking after a bankruptcy court hearing in Manhattan, said creditors and the company rejected Robertson's final offer.

"Someone has to come forward by Friday to keep the company going in the form it is now," he said.

UPI said in a statement: "If additional funds for UPI's operations are not found, UPI will terminate operations on Friday, June 12, at midnight."

UPI President Pieter VanBennekom said after Robertson's announcement the company was "considering all of its options, including a shutdown."

Robertson said he backed away from his original offer because he found, after looking at UPI's books, that its severe financial problems and limited hopes for a comeback made the deal unattractive.

When UPI filed for bankruptcy protection last August, it listed $22 million in assets and $65 million in liabilities. It has been cutting staff, closing bureaus and trimming operations for years in its struggle to stay afloat.

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But Robertson, one of America's most prominent television evangelists and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, said a survey of UPI clients had found that 32 percent had already decided to drop the service.

"I mean, our own news department here in Washington has just canceled UPI to go with AP (Associated Press) because it wasn't broad enough and deep enough to serve our needs," Robertson said.

Robertson, who made his announcement at a news conference in Washington, said it would have been expensive - "at least $31 million in 18 months" - to beef up UPI's news delivery system and staff, now about 500 worldwide, and build a competitive agency without assurance of a profit.

Samowitz said that even if the company closed Friday, the creditors would continue to try to sell the UPI name as a so-called "cold asset."

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