apt encoding problem?

I am using the latest apt on SuSE 9.2 x86_64 platform, which uses
utf-8. I notice that rpms saved in /var/cache/apt/archives all have the
pattern of name_version-release_arch, but the arch is written as
x86%5f64 instead of x86_64. I haven't got a clue where to even look to
try to fix this. Any clues (or even better patches) to try to fix
this? Apt functions fine, but using external programs (i.e. kpackage)
on the files produce an error because the internal name differs from the
external name (i.e. file not found). Thanks for any ideas to help fix
this problem. I would assume it is related to the fact x86_64 is kind of 
new, and some provision hasn't been made for that character in the arch, 
since i386, i586, etc. would have this problem.

-- 
Joe Morris
New Tribes Mission
Email Address: [email protected]
Registered Linux user 231871