N.Korea Angrily Refutes US "Provocative" Concerns Over Nuclear Arms

NUKEWARS

North Korea Angrily Refutes US "Provocative" Concerns Over Nukes

International Atomic Energy Agency ends mission to Iraq
Baghdad (AFP) Jan 30 - A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) completed an inspection visit to nuclear sites in Iraq under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"We have finished our mission today and will be leaving Baghdad tomorrow, Andrzey Pietruzewiski, the head of the IAEA told journalists.

"Our task is just to collect all results, pass those results to the IAEA. There all the results will be evaluated and the statement about the results of the inspection will be provided to the Iraqi authorities," he said.

The seven-member team began its routine inspection mission of Iraqi sites on Saturday.

Pietruzewiski said on his arrival in Baghdad on Friday that his mission was "a safeguard inspection like it was last year... We are going to verify the nuclear materials in question in specified locations."

The IAEA made a similar visit in January 2001 to inspect Iraqi nuclear installations under the NPT. It found that the country's uranium stocks were being kept under seal and had not been touched.

The visits are not linked to the UN disarmament programme imposed on Iraq in 1991 that ground to a halt in December 1998 with the evacuation of international weapons inspectors on the eve of US and British air strikes.

Seoul (AFP) Jan 30, 2002
North Korea on Thursday hit back at US President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech accusing the communist state of being part of an "axis of evil."

Pyongyang accused Washington of adopting a "hostile and aggressive" stance taking the two sides toward renewed conflict.

China, a traditional ally of North Korea, also condemned Bush's harsh words, saying they would only disrupt world peace and stability.

South Korea gave no admitted public reaction but officials in Seoul said they were worried by Bush's speech on Tuesday.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: "The remarks were merely US shenanigans aimed at continuing with its policy of aggression against us.

"The remarks were also aimed at justifying the stationing of US troops in the South and keeping up with its hostile and aggressive policy," it said.

The North broke off official contacts with the United States and South Korea last year after Bush signalled a tougher line with the communist state, especially over its weapons programme.

Since then it has accused the United States of seeking a new conflict on the Korean peninsula. Some 37,000 US troops have been in the South since the 1950-53 Korean War which has never been officially ended.

Bush said in his speech that North Korea, Iraq and Iran and their "terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil" and hinted they could become targets in the war on terrorism.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan hit back: "The Chinese side is not in favor of using such terms in international relations. We always advocate ... the principle of equality of all countries ..., otherwise it can only ... harm the maintenance of world peace and stability."

But the State Department insisted later that the United States was still open to a dialogue with Iran and North Korea.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said talks with North Koreans would only occur if they were willing to discuss their weapons programs and end their support for terrorism.

"We have said that there are serious issues to discuss with North Korea, that we're ready to sit down and discuss those issues at any time, any place," Boucher told reporters.

In Seoul, US ambassador Thomas Hubbard said Bush and South Korea's President Kim Dae-Jung would discuss the North's suspected weapons of mass destruction when they meet in Seoul on February 20.

Hubbard added Bush would reaffirm US support for Kim's "Sunshine" policy of reconciliation toward the North and US willingness for talks.

Officials close to the president said the South Korean administration had been worried by Bush's speech ahead of the summit next month.

Kim Dae-Jung has called for the United States to take some "face-saving" measures for North Korea so that it can be tempted into dialogue.

But Hubbard said the United States has no such a concept of face-saving measures and would only enter into "straightforward and practical" talks.

Hubbard noted the United States had repeatedly expressed concern over the North's suspected nuclear weapons programme and missile exports.

He said the United States wanted to see North Korea's nuclear facilities torn down and its nuclear fuel rods, which could be used to produce weapons grade plutonium, shipped out of the country.

Bush used strong terms to express concern over the North because of the increased terrorism threat in the world, the ambassador said, stressing that Bush did not mean that Washington rejected dialogue with Pyongyang.

Ryu Suk-Ryul of the state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security said Bush's remarks were intended to put pressure on North Korea to abandon its brinksmanship and come forward to dialogue.

He noted that a scholar and four former US ambassadors to Seoul planned to visit Pyongyang next month and US and North Korean officials were continuing talks at the United Nations.

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SPACEWAR

Bush Says Iran, Iraq And North Korea An "Axis Of Evil"

Washington (AFP) Jan 29, 2002
President George W. Bush singled out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as "an axis of evil," bluntly warning the three nations that they could soon become targets in the US-led war on terrorism.

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