* Icelanders torn over referendum on repaying UK, Dutch
* Public anger tempered by desire to move on
* Vote due by March 6 said too close to call
* Government's popularity may lift 'yes' camp
By Niklas Pollard and Omar Valdimarsson
REYKJAVIK, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Icelanders are torn between anger and a wish to move on as a vote looms on a controversial bill to repay Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion arising from the island nation's financial meltdown.
"We should probably pay -- but I'm not so sure that we should be the only ones paying," said Sigfus Gudmundsson, a carpenter about to turn 60.
"The Dutch and the British must share some of the burden -- after all, their governments and regulatory bodies allowed Icesave to set up shop in their countries."
British and Dutch depositors in high-interest Icesave bank accounts were hit when banks based on the North Atlantic island collapsed in 2008 after years of aggressive expansion. The two European Union countries compensated savers in full and now want their money back.
Many Icelanders are furious at being left with the tab for a debt-fuelled boom engineered by a handful of bankers, arguing that while savers abroad were lured foolishly by wild interest rates, the people of Iceland gained little.
The debt comes to more than $15,000 per Icelandic man, woman and child, although a sizeable chunk is likely to be covered by the sale of the assets of the failed bank that operated Icesave.
"It's a bad deal. By defeating it in the referendum we will show the outside world that we're not willing to take it," said Thorri Hoskuldsson, a 55-year-old unemployed father of six.
An agreement with London and Amsterdam is needed to keep international financial aid flowing to Iceland and help it emerge from the deep recession in which it has been mired since 2008. Some voters see the deal as the only way forward.
PAYING DEBTS
"We must pay," said Sigurjon Reykdal, a cab driver who has seen the price of gasoline roughly triple from before the crisis due to the collapse of the Icelandic currency.
"Our companies need to be able to get loans. I think people will have a think about this and eventually vote 'yes'."
Icelanders are to vote sometime between Feb. 20 and March 6 after the president last week unexpectedly refused to sign into law an amended bill on repayment, forcing a referendum.
"I've always thought one should pay one's debts," said fisherman Halldor Thorvaldsson, 52, who is upset that debate on Icesave has delayed parliament's setting of annual fish quotas.
"If I guarantee a loan for my kids and they don't pay, well, then I will have to pay whether I like it or not. So I'm leaning towards saying 'yes' in the referendum."
Opinion polls have been contradictory. One last week showed a narrow majority in favour of the bill while the latest survey, published at the weekend, found 6 out of 10 would vote 'no'. [ID:LDE6080AD]
Karl Blondal, co-editor of the daily Morgunbladid, believes voters will reject what some call the "Iceslave bill" because the 'no' camp is more highly motivated.
"Nobody likes Icesave. There is no Icesave support group in Iceland," he said. "Those against it are more likely to go and vote."
MOVING ON
Still, many want to put the Icesave dispute and the economic meltdown it embodied behind them, which could yet push support for the bill over the top.
"What I think will affect the debate is that people really want to move on now," said Baldur Thorhallsson, a political science professor at the University of Iceland, who thinks the race is too close to call.
"People don't really want to see general elections. They want to see economic recovery. Less shouting and more action."
Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is popular and her governing coalition of Social Democrats and Left-Greens still enjoys a majority of support among voters.
The coalition has fought hard for the Icesave deal and has not said if it would step down if defeated in the referendum, triggering early elections after a year in office.
Most Icelanders want to avoid renewed political turmoil after the previous government was felled last year by public protests over the financial collapse.