[hcvv]

I have thought this over during dinner (and a bit after), but fail to see the light.

IMHO an ls needs only access to the directory, so I fail to see how the meesage about access to the file can be true (apart from it being done by root, etc.)

I suppose that cp the file to another directory is as fruitless (no doubt you tried this already).

Suggestions of natural_pilot about the reiserfs seem at least something to try (getting the latest updates).

Do you have a backup (you should have, of course)? What when you retrieve from there (maybe to a ext3 fs)?