Ubuntu 8.10 Error

I'm using Ubuntu and today i got error :
E: problem parsing dependency recommend.
E: Error occurred while processing libgdl-1-0 (NewVersion1),
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/dpkg/status,
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

I cant update my ubuntu or opening synaptic package manager and cannot run aptitude in terminal too.

And i got fix the problem by running this on the terminal :
dpkg --configure -a

thx to mikeyphi ( its a nickname ) (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1272307)