U.N. members may give up mandatory cargo inspections for resolution+

NEW YORK, June 9 Kyodo -
Seven key U.N. members are leaning toward removing proposed mandatory
inspections of North Korean cargo from a draft Security Council resolution over
North Korea's recent nuclear test, U.N. diplomatic sources said Monday.

The revised draft resolution outlined by the seven countries last week would
require all U.N. members to inspect North Korean cargo if it is suspected of
carrying nuclear or missile-related items.
But China has rejected the proposal, which has prevented the five permanent
council members -- the United States, Britain, France and Russia as well as
China -- plus Japan and South Korea from reaching a final agreement on the
resolution until now, the sources said.
China, a traditional ally of North Korea, urged the six other countries to
weaken wording on the cargo inspections, maintaining that mandatory inspections
of North Korean cargo would lead to military conflict, the sources said.
Effectively implementing the inspection of North Korean cargo is one of the
measures the Security Council is contemplating as a way to enforce Resolution
1718 in response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear test conducted May 25.
The resolution, adopted in October 2006 after North Korea's first nuclear test,
says all U.N. members are ''called upon'' to take ''cooperative action
including thorough inspection of cargo to and from'' North Korea.
Following Pyongyang's second nuclear test, Japan and the United States have
insisted a new resolution include a phrase making cargo inspection by U.N.
members mandatory rather than ''calling upon'' them to cooperate.
According to the revised draft for the new resolution, the Security Council
will decide that all U.N. members ''shall inspect'' all cargo to and from North
Korea in their territories including seaports and airports, if the concerned
state has ''reasonable grounds'' to believe that cargo contains nuclear and
missile-related items.
The draft also says all U.N. members are ''authorized to inspect vessels, with
the consent of the flag state, on the high seas, if there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the cargo of such vessels contains'' nuclear and
missile items.
But Beijing has stuck to the phrase ''called upon'' as used in Resolution 1718,
the sources said.
The United States, which had not budged, has now begun to show understanding of
China's view on the cargo inspections, the sources said, adding the seven
members are leaning toward adopting the phrase ''called upon'' instead of
''shall inspect.''
The seven members have reached an agreement over the rest of the revised draft
resolution, the sources said.
The seven countries aim to reach a final deal Tuesday after obtaining consent
from their respective capitals, the sources said. If the members cut a final
deal, they will officially submit the draft to the 15-member Security Council.
The revised draft also includes additional financial sanctions against North
Korea in line with a call by Japan and the United States, the sources said.
The draft, expressing ''the gravest concern'' at the latest nuclear test,
described the action as a ''violation and flagrant disregard'' of relevant U.N.
resolutions.
The revised draft would expand the scope of the trade embargo on North Korea to
''all arms'' except small arms and light weapons.
Items U.N. members are currently barred from supplying to North Korea under
Resolution 1718 are limited to large weapons such as tanks, armored combat
vehicles and jet fighters.
The draft also calls on all U.N. members and international lending agencies to
refrain from extending new loans and other financial assistance to North Korea
other than for humanitarian purposes.
It also calls for an expanded freeze on the assets of North Korean entities and
individuals to prevent the provision of financial services and transfer of
financial assets from contributing to North Korea's nuclear, ballistic missile
and other weapons of mass destruction-related programs.
But a proposal by Japan and the United States for banning transactions with
North Korean banks was not included in the draft, according to the sources.
The original draft referred to action under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, a
section setting out the council's powers including the use of force to maintain
international peace and security.
But the revised paper excluded the military option by saying the council is
acting under Chapter VII while taking measures under the chapter's Article 41,
a set of nonmilitary steps.
The new draft deleted a call for Pyongyang to respond to the abduction issue,
which was included in the original draft.
==Kyodo