N. Korea: Atomic inspectors can return

Source: CNN, June 16, 2007.

(CNN) -- North Korea has invited inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog back into the country to monitor the shut down of its main nuclear reactor, state media reports.

A letter inviting a "working level" delegation to visit and monitor the suspension of the operations of nuclear facilities was sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency, North's Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, frozen North Korean funds that were thawed as part of a February agreement to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program were transferred out of a bank in Macau, China, to a Russian bank, where North Korea has an account.

Ri Je Son, North Korea's director general of the General Department of Atomic Energy, sent a letter to the IAEA confirming that transfer of the funds was completed as required before the invitation would be extended, according to KCNA.

Francis Tam Pak-yuen, Macau's secretary of economy and finance, said more than $20 million went from Banco Delta Asia to a North Korean account in a small private Russian bank via the Macau Monetary Authority, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Russian central bank.

The funding, $25 million, was frozen at the bank in late 2005 at the request of the United States, which claimed some of the funding came from illegal activities. As part of a February deal agreed upon during six-party talks aimed at North Korea's denuclearization, however, the funds were freed.

North Korea had been expected to announce its steps in implementing the six-party agreement upon confirmation of the money transfer. Under the agreement, North Korea will shut down its Yongbyon reactor and allow the IAEA back into the country to monitor the process.

Besides freeing up the funds, countries involved in the six-party talks are to provide emergency energy assistance equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

The agreement was reached in September after six-party talks involving North Korea, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

At a February 13 meeting, a set of initial actions were agreed upon, including freeing the Macau funding.

In exchange for North Korea's denuclearization, the nations have pledged to provide the reclusive Communist nation with political and economic incentives and security guarantees.

U.S. presses N. Korea to shut reactor

Source: CNN.

April 9, 2007

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The top U.S. nuclear envoy said Tuesday that North Korea's reported willingness to immediately invite U.N. inspectors into the country once a dispute over frozen North Korean funds is resolved was "positive."

"I think what was positive coming out of Pyongyang yesterday was the report that the DPRK is prepared to take these steps and get the (International Atomic Energy Agency) in there," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Tokyo.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told a visiting U.S. delegation in Pyongyang Monday that his government would invite inspectors back "the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," according to Anthony Principi, U.S. President George W. Bush's former veteran affairs secretary.

But Principi said Kim told the Americans that it would be difficult to shut down the nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called for in a February 13 nuclear disarmament accord. Under that agreement, the North must shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and a reprocessing facility in exchange for an initial shipment of aid.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is slated to monitor and verify the shutdown in what would be its first visit since late 2002, when North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors after U.S. officials accused the communist nation of running a secret uranium-enrichment program in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal.

"They can make a beginning, but whether they can completely shut down a nuclear reactor in such a short time would be very difficult," Principi said.

The North agreed to shut the reactor only after the U.S. promised to resolve the key financial issue within 30 days -- which Washington failed to do because the fund transfer has been mired in technical complications.

Kim "indicated that the North Korean government would invite the ... inspectors back the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," Principi told reporters.

"They believe that it's critical that the $25 million be returned to their government," he said.

Hill: Timeline 'becoming difficult'

In Tokyo, U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said the deadline was going to be difficult to meet because of the ongoing dispute over the frozen funds.

"Clearly, we're aiming for the complete implementation of the February agreement by day 60 ... but that timeline is becoming difficult," said Hill, who is in Japan to discuss the next stage of the nuclear talks.

He said resolving the financial dispute in the "next day or two" will be key in order for the North to meet the reactor shutdown deadline.

"We feel this should never have held up the nuclear process, but unfortunately it has," Hill said. "We have some ideas for how to go forward, and we'll see if we can do that in the next couple of days."

The U.S. envoy also said Washington would push the North to fully meet its obligations. "There's no such thing as partial implementation" of the agreement, Hill said.

The only immediate cost the impoverished North would suffer for not shutting down the reactor by the deadline would be an initial 50,000 ton shipment of heavy fuel oil promised as a reward. That shipment was part of 1 million tons of oil it would get for dismantling its nuclear programs.

The money dispute has held up progress in implementing the landmark agreement in which North Korea promised to take initial steps toward dismantling its nuclear program, including closing its main nuclear reactor, in exchange for economic aid and political concessions.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on what might happen if North Korea misses the deadline, but said the United States continued to believe that all parties to the agreement are "working in good faith to meet it."

But, he told reporters the money issue "was more complicated than anyone could have imagined," and suggested Washington might not object to an extension of the deadline.

"We'll take a look at where we are on Saturday," McCormack said.

Japan approves extension of sanctions

On Tuesday, Japan's Cabinet approved a six-month extension on trade sanctions against North Korea, which were imposed in the wake of the communist state's nuclear test last year, Cabinet Office spokeswoman Miwako Fujishige said. The measures include closing ports to North Korean ships and banning the import of North Korean goods.

North Korea has refused to move forward because of the delayed transfer of the money frozen by Macau authorities after the U.S. blacklisted a bank in the Chinese-administered region in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money.

The delegation, which includes Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Victor Cha, Bush's top adviser on North Korea, is on a four-day trip to Pyongyang to recover remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War.

Richardson said his delegation pushed Kim for a show of good faith that North Korea was ready to meet its obligations under the February deal, asking for a meeting of the six nations involved in the nuclear disarmament talks before the deadline.

He said he was hoping to travel to the reactor site in Yongbyon, 55 miles north of Pyongyang, but there were a lot of "political issues involved." He did not elaborate.

In the first minutes of the meeting between the North Koreans and the Americans, which reporters were allowed to watch before being escorted out, Kim said the visit, the first that included both Democratic and Republican officials since Bush took office, was of "very great significance."

Kim and the Americans met at the Foreign Ministry building, which overlooks Kim Il Sung square. Hundreds of children and women in brightly colored traditional Korean dresses practiced dances that they will perform on Sunday, when North Koreans celebrate the 95th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country's founding president and the father of current leader Kim Jong Il.

Richardson and Principi also visited the USS Pueblo, the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. A North Korean official called the vessel a living example of continued U.S. aggression toward his country.

Richardson, a former ambassador to the U.N., has regularly made diplomatic trips, often on his own initiative, to global hot spots. Although visits to North Korea by senior U.S. officials are rare, this was Richardson's sixth.

In a possible sign of improved ties, a North Korean general said the remains of six U.S. servicemen would be handed over to the Americans. Three of the sets of remains had identification tags, U.S. officials said after meeting with the general.

Richardson called it a noble humanitarian gesture that would bring comfort to American families.

China, Russia; Arab, Muslim states object to Darfur report

Source: CNN.

GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- China and Russia joined with Arab and Muslim states on Friday in urging the U.N.'s human rights watchdog to ignore a report from a mission to Darfur that blamed Sudan for continuing war crimes against civilians there.

The two permanent Security Council members argued the mission, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams, last month failed to gain access to the vast western region of Sudan and had not fulfilled its mandate.

[I see. Deny access, then complain because they did not verify everything? Clever, but foolish.]

Despite warnings from Western and some African states that failure to act would undermine the credibility of the newly formed rights Human Rights Council, Muslim and Arab states and their allies backed Sudan's line that the report had no legal basis.

"The so-called mission failed to make an onsite visit. The report cannot be considered objective ... and has no legal basis," China said in a statement to the 47-state Council, which was echoed by Russia.

After initially agreeing to the mission, the government of Sudan refused to grant visas to the five-strong team because it opposed one of the members, who it said had previously spoken of genocide in Darfur and could not be objective.

The U.N. investigators, asked by the Council in December to examine reports of massive abuse in Darfur, were forced to conduct their work from neighboring Chad and in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, headquarters of the African Union.

Observers estimate 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes since a revolt broke out between rebels and government-backed Arab militias four years ago in Darfur.

The Sudanese government denies responsibility for abuses and blames rebel groups that have refused to sign a peace deal.

"This report has no legal standing. This faulty report should not be discussed," Sudan's Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Elmardi told the Council.

Earlier, Williams had urged the Council to act on her team's recommendations, saying: "Innocent civilians continue to suffer and die. They do not need more reports. They are pleading for protection."

Western members of the Council supported the findings of the report, the latest international probe to point the finger at Khartoum over the violence in Darfur, and a number of African states, including Zambia, Nigeria and Senegal, joined them.

The report declared that the government had "manifestly failed to protect the population ... from large-scale international crimes and has itself orchestrated and participated in these crimes."

Rebels were also guilty of crimes against civilians.

"I urge the members of the Human Rights Council to act on the relevant recommendations ... with the aim of improving the situation of human rights in Darfur," the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement.

It is time to dissolve the UN, and get them off our property. They no longer serve their purpose. They are NOT stopping GENOCIDE.

Soldiers bar U.N. official from Darfur refugee camp

Source: CNN.

KASSAB, Sudan (AP) -- Sudanese soldiers barred the U.N. humanitarian chief on Saturday from a Darfur refugee camp whose residents have been raped and attacked by gunmen suspected of belonging to pro-government militias.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon failed, meanwhile, to persuade Egypt to push Sudan's leader to accept a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the region.

The convoy carrying humanitarian chief John Holmes was halted at a checkpoint about a mile outside the Kassab refugee camp, and he was told he lacked the proper papers for a visit there.

"I'm frustrated, annoyed, but it's not atypical of what happens here," Holmes told journalists traveling with him. He said he had obtained all the necessary clearances from the government in Khartoum.

Other U.N. officials working in Darfur said that aid workers and U.N. staff members were regularly blocked from doing their work at army checkpoints, and that Sudanese authorities had recently confiscated costly satellite gear from one convoy.

The soldiers at the checkpoint briefly prevented a car carrying journalists from leaving after Holmes turned back. The journalists were allowed to leave only after the troops confiscated a videotape from a U.N. television cameraman.

The Sudanese army spokesman, Sawarmy Khaled Taat, initially said he believed there had been a mixup and that the U.N. had not obtained the proper permission for Holmes' visit.

But later Saturday, Sudanese authorities in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, apologized, saying the incident was an individual mistake by Sudanese military intelligence personnel manning the checkpoint at Kassab, home to more than 25,000 refugees in a region under tight control of the janjaweed militia and government forces.

Holmes accepted the apology, the U.N. said.

In need of aid are some 4 million people in Darfur caught in the midst of fighting between rebels, the government and the pro-government janjaweed. More than 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in four years of fighting, and the Arab janjaweed are accused of widespread atrocities against ethnic African civilians.

Ban, who is in Egypt on a Mideast tour, said he had asked President Hosni Mubarak during a morning meeting to press Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to accept the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Mubarak did not comply with the request.

Aboul Gheit said talks were needed between al-Bashir's government and rebels who were not part of a peace agreement signed last year with another rebel group.

"Without getting them together in one agreement, any talks over international forces cannot be crystallized," Aboul Gheit said.

The United Nations has failed to persuade Sudan to accept the deployment of a "hybrid" force of 22,000 U.N. and African Union troops.

Al-Bashir reneged on a November agreement to accept the UN-AU force and claimed last month that U.N. troops were not needed because the 7,000 AU troops already in Darfur can maintain order.

Egypt has a small military force with the AU in Darfur.

ElBaradei upbeat on N. Korea talks

Source: CNN.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The chief U.N. nuclear inspector, after a one-day trip to Pyongyang, said Wednesday North Korea was "fully committed" to an agreement that requires it to shutter its main nuclear reactor and let in inspectors as soon as the U.S. drops financial sanctions against it.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, described the talks on how North Korea will close its main atomic reactor as "quite useful."

"They said they are fully committed to the February 13 agreement, that they are ready to work with the agency to make sure that we monitor and verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon facility," he said, adding officials in Pyongyang also "reiterated they are committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

ElBaradei's trip comes ahead of international talks in Beijing on Monday that will look at progress after a milestone deal last month in which North Korea has 60 days to shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and political concessions.

ElBaradei dismissed concerns that he had not meet Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, as originally scheduled, saying Kim was sick.

The IAEA is supposed to monitor and verify the shutdown. The reactor is believed to have produced the plutonium for the nuclear weapon North Korea detonated in a test blast on October 9.

He said North Korea "was very clear they are ready to implement the February 13 agreement once the other parties implement their part of the deal."

He said that included the lifting of sanctions against a Macau bank, adding once that happens North Korea will allow the return of inspectors from his watchdog agency.

The frozen accounts in the Banco Delta Asia, including $24 million (€18.2 million) in North Korean assets, have been a sore spot for the North Korean government.

A U.S. government official said Monday the Treasury Department is expected to make an announcement this week that could help overseas regulators identify highest-risk and lower-risk account holders. This risk assessment in turn could be used by Macau to release money that has been frozen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The U.S. alleged the bank helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. Banks around the world, meanwhile, severed ties with North Korea for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system.

ElBaradei's trip was a significant first step toward renewed relations between the IAEA and the North, which kicked out the agency's inspectors in late 2002, but he cautioned "the agreement is still quite fragile, precarious, so I hope all parties will see to it we continue to solidify that agreement."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top American nuclear negotiator, told reporters after arriving in Beijing that ElBaradei's trip was a "good sign."

Hill said he was likely to meet ElBaradei in Beijing on Thursday.

Besides the United States and North Korea, the talks also include South Korea, Japan, Russia and host China.

Delegates from those countries were set this week to meet with their counterparts to discuss economic and energy cooperation, peace and security in Northeast Asia and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as part of working group sessions established under the landmark pact. Those meetings were to take place through the weekend.

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo said after flying into Beijing Wednesday that the talks were not aimed "at producing any breakthrough" or a new agreement.

The North Korean nuclear crisis began in 2002, when Washington alleged that Pyongyang had a uranium enrichment program in addition to its acknowledged plutonium program. North Korea then withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and expelled ElBaradei's inspectors.

The North is to eventually receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for abandoning all its nuclear programs. U.S. officials have stressed this must include an alleged uranium enrichment program, which the North has never publicly admitted having.