gaim can't load buddy list

[linuxnewbie42]

I shearched the forums for the problem I'm having but can't find a solution. The problem is when I call up gaim I get this error: can't load buddy list parse error. anyways thanks for the help in advance
OS: Red Hat 9

[mdwatts]

Is that the exact error message (spelling etc.) as I could not find anything at all for

'gaim "load buddy list parse error"'