WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
WORLD> Asia-Pacific
|
|
AP: US to remove DPRK from terror list
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-11 15:02 The US government plans to remove North Korea from a terrorism blacklist on October 11 after getting assurances the northeastern Asian nation has agreed to a plan to inspect its nuclear facilities, the Associated Press reported. US President George W Bush signed off on the move on October 10 at American eastern time in a bid to salvage a faltering accord to get North Korea to abandon atomic weapons, according to diplomats.
The removal is provisional and North Korea will be put back on the State Department's "state sponsors of terrorism" list if it doesn't comply with the inspections, the insiders said. The expected delisting comes as North Korea moves to restart a disabled nuclear reactor and takes other measures that the White House considered as provocative, including expelling UN inspectors and test firing missiles. It also follows days of intense internal debate in Washington and consultations with U.S. negotiating partners China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. Japan is reportedly having balked at the move because the North Korea has not resolved issues related to its abduction of Japanese citizens, sources said. Neither the White House nor the State Department commented on the decision, which has been in the works since chief US negotiator Christopher Hill returned from a trip to North Korea late last week. "We're continuing to work with our six-party partners," White House press secretary Dana Perino said, referring to China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, which along with the United States and North Korea make up the group of countries working on the deal. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke on Friday with the foreign ministers of China, South Korea and Japan and was trying to reach her Russian counterpart, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "The point where we're at now is making sure everybody agrees," he said. |
||||
