ID :
14528
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 10:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/14528
The shortlink copeid
U.S. to keep N. Korea on terror list if no deal on nuke verification
WASHINGTON, July 31 Kyodo - The United States plans to postpone its removal of North Korea from its list of terror-sponsoring nations unless a regime for verifying Pyongyang's nuclear declaration is set up, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
It is the first time that a concrete plan to delay crossing the country off the blacklist from the originally planned Aug. 11 to a future date has been mentioned by any administration official.
President George W. Bush notified Congress on June 26 of his intent to remove North Korea from the blacklist, enabling his administration to call for actual removal on or after Aug. 10.
Because Aug. 10 falls on Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to take steps to take that country off the list the following day.
However, it appears difficult for any deal to be struck on the verification regime by then as, according to the administration official, hardliners in the North Korean government are opposed to U.S.-proposed verification methods such as access to any facilities and sampling of nuclear materials.
Behind the North Korean opposition is a similarity between those methods and methods adopted by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to scrutinize Iraq's once-suspected possession of weapons of mass destruction, the official said.
Ministers from North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States agreed in Singapore last week on the need to set up a regime for verifying North Korea's list of nuclear programs at an early date.
The meeting came after North Korea submitted a long-delayed list of its nuclear programs last month, ending a six-month stalemate in the denuclearization negotiations stemming from a row over what should be included in the document.
Negotiators from the six countries have since agreed to set up a regime for checking information on the list, but have yet to agree on specifics such as who will visit which nuclear sites carrying what kind of equipment.
Rice warned North Korea last week of a possible delay in removing the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying, ''Unless we're satisfied that we can verify the declaration, we've been very clear that we're taking that into our assessment of when to go forward.''''It's a 45-day minimum notification, but we certainly expect, and we're watching very carefully, to see whether or not North Korea is going to come through on the essential issue, which is verification, and to act accordingly,'' she said.
It is the first time that a concrete plan to delay crossing the country off the blacklist from the originally planned Aug. 11 to a future date has been mentioned by any administration official.
President George W. Bush notified Congress on June 26 of his intent to remove North Korea from the blacklist, enabling his administration to call for actual removal on or after Aug. 10.
Because Aug. 10 falls on Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to take steps to take that country off the list the following day.
However, it appears difficult for any deal to be struck on the verification regime by then as, according to the administration official, hardliners in the North Korean government are opposed to U.S.-proposed verification methods such as access to any facilities and sampling of nuclear materials.
Behind the North Korean opposition is a similarity between those methods and methods adopted by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to scrutinize Iraq's once-suspected possession of weapons of mass destruction, the official said.
Ministers from North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States agreed in Singapore last week on the need to set up a regime for verifying North Korea's list of nuclear programs at an early date.
The meeting came after North Korea submitted a long-delayed list of its nuclear programs last month, ending a six-month stalemate in the denuclearization negotiations stemming from a row over what should be included in the document.
Negotiators from the six countries have since agreed to set up a regime for checking information on the list, but have yet to agree on specifics such as who will visit which nuclear sites carrying what kind of equipment.
Rice warned North Korea last week of a possible delay in removing the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying, ''Unless we're satisfied that we can verify the declaration, we've been very clear that we're taking that into our assessment of when to go forward.''''It's a 45-day minimum notification, but we certainly expect, and we're watching very carefully, to see whether or not North Korea is going to come through on the essential issue, which is verification, and to act accordingly,'' she said.
