U.S. envoy says Sudan bombing civilians in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) -- The top U.S. envoy for Darfur on Friday accused the Sudanese government of bombing civilian targets in its war-ravaged western region and rebels of cynically obstructing international efforts to end the conflict.

Andrew Natsios told a news conference in Khartoum following a visit to Darfur that both sides were to blame for the conflict that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. "After a halt in the bombing between the beginning of February and the end of April in 2007, the Sudanese government has resumed bombing in Darfur," Natsios said. "This should end, and the ceasefire that was agreed to sometime ago should be respected. We urge the Sudanese government to end all bombing in Darfur immediately," he said.

Khartoum signed a ceasefire agreement with the two main rebel groups in Darfur, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement, in 2004, but violence has continued. A May 2006 Darfur peace deal was signed by only one rebel faction. Since then, rebels have split into a dozen groups. "Some of them are descending into warlordism and criminality and this is not a good trend in Darfur, which is all the more reason why we need to accelerate the political process for a peace agreement," Natsios said.

"Some rebel leaders are cynically obstructing the peace process and the United States government is very disturbed by this. It needs to end now," he continued. Natsios said the bombing by the Sudanese military focused on the Jebel Marra region, a strong-hold of Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nour, leader of a faction of one of the Darfur rebel groups, and other targets in West and North Darfur.

"I think there were four attacks in Jebel Marra Mountains. We are troubled by this, because these have been stable areas before," the U.S. envoy said. "And there had been other bombings I think in West Darfur and North Darfur of civilian targets," he added.

The Sudanese military could not be immediately reached for comment.Natsios also said the United States was disturbed by reports that the Sudanese government was deliberately trying to change Darfur's demography by settling non-Sudanese Arab tribes there.

"It is a very provocative action that concerns us all and will complicate any future political process for reconciliation in Sudan and particularly in Darfur," he said. "Because when a settlement is reached and people go back to their homes and they find out someone is living on their land and farming it, this will simply create a new war."

The U.S. envoy's comments came as Britain, France and Ghana circulated a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council for a joint African Union-U.N. force for Darfur, which also threatened force against those who attack civilians, relief workers and obstruct peace efforts. The resolution, expected to be adopted this month, allows the U.N. to formally recruit troops for the mission.

Under sustained international pressure, Sudan agreed last month to a combined U.N.-AU peacekeeping force of more than 20,000 troops and police to bolster the cash-strapped AU force of 7,000 already operating in Darfur. The AU troops have failed to stem the violence.

International experts estimate 200,000 [It has been 400,000 for 2 years now!] people have died as a result of ethnic[, religious] and political conflict in Darfur since it flared in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms after accusing the central government of neglect. [LIE! It was the Arab janjaweed that was raping, pillaging, murdering, flash burning the land, and committing genocide that started the war.] Washington calls the violence genocide, and blames the government and its allied militia. Khartoum rejects the term and says only 9,000 have died.

Other sources: AlertNet, AlertNet, Reuters, by Simon Apiku, U.S. envoy blasts Sudan for attacks (San Jose Mercury News, written by MOHAMED OSMAN Associated Press Writer), etc. May I also add that they are ALL using the same Reuters article! Will someone please explain to me why everyone goes to journalist school if they are only going to copy/paste? Just asking...

NK wants direct military talks with U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea called on Friday for military talks with the United States for peace and security on the peninsula, with Washington saying it can discuss a peace treaty after Pyongyang abandons its nuclear program.

Pyongyang, which often muddies the waters ahead of crucial moves concerning its atomic ambitions, is set to receive a team of U.N. nuclear personnel on Saturday who are to oversee the shutdown of its reactor and source of weapons-grade plutonium.

Six-way talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programs are set to resume on Wednesday in Beijing. The North, which has long sought direct talks with the United States, usually holds bilateral meetings with U.S. officials within those discussions.

"The Korean People's Army side proposes having talks between the DPRK and U.S. militaries to be attended by a U.N. representative," the North's military said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

The North, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said the talks would be for "discussing the issues related to ensuring the peace and security on the Korean peninsula".

U.S. officials have said in recent weeks that Washington is ready to discuss normalizing ties and a peace treaty to end the Korean War if the North follows up on its recent progress in disarmament and completely scraps its atomic arms program.

An analyst said this may be a ploy from reclusive North Korea to drive a wedge between the United States and it ally, the South.

"The comments appear to be intended to exclude South Korea and China in any talks for a peace treaty and to include the subject of removing U.S. troops from the South as part of the talks," head of North Korean military research at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Baek Seung-joo said.

There have been reports in the South Korean media that officials are seeking a four-way dialogue among China, the two Koreas and the United States to examine a peace treaty. The North may have been responding to these reports, Baek said.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce. The United States, which led U.N. forces, was a signatory to the armistice as well as North Korea and its ally, China. South Korea did not sign.

The United States stations about 30,000 troops in the South to support the country's some 670,000 strong military against an attack by the North.

The North repeated an often used line that the United States is bringing the peninsula to the brink of nuclear war and called on it to stop joint military drills with the South as well as cut out what it saw as a hostile policy to stifle it.

"It is the undeniable and legitimate right of the DPRK to have in place all the necessary self-defensive means to cope with the threat and blackmail of the U.S. in order to protect its right to existence," the North's statement said.

In a February deal among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, the North agreed to shut down its antiquated reactor in return for 50,000 tonnes of oil aid. E-mail to a friend.

Australia to transform naval forces

Source: CNN.

June 20, 2007.

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- Australia will build an A$11 billion ($9 billion) fleet of advanced destroyers and amphibious warships, Prime Minister John Howard said, underscoring the country's plan to remain a key Asian military power.

The purchases would transform Australia's navy into one of the most powerful in the Asia region, with two amphibious carriers able to land more than 2,000 troops, 16 attack and transport helicopters and up to 23 Abrams tanks.

"They will greatly enhance Australia's ability to send forces in strength when required, particularly in our own region, but not restricted to our own region," Howard told a media briefing on Wednesday.

Howard said his government had agreed to buy three Spanish-designed F100 air warfare destroyers at a cost of A$8 billion, to be built in Adelaide by Australian firm ASC, U.S. firm Raytheon and Spanish government-shipyard Navantia.

The 6,000-ton warships will be equipped with advanced U.S. Aegis radars and may one day carry SM 3 missiles as part of U.S. and Japanese efforts to build a ballistic missile shield in Asia, in order to guard against threats like a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Two 27,000-ton amphibious warships, also Navantia designs, would be built in Victoria state in partnership with Australian defense firm Tenix, with the first to enter service with the Royal Australian Navy by 2012, Howard said.

The Navantia destroyers beat a larger and more costly rival U.S. design, while the amphibious warships were preferred over a smaller French design.

Asia-Pacific focus.

Australia has in recent years increased defense spending above A$20 billion a year amid concerns about growing instability in the Asia-Pacific, with a A$50 billion military buy-up already underway, including advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The new destroyers, with a range of more than 5,000 nautical miles, could also be equipped with Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles, local media said.

Canberra, its defense budget fattened by strong commodity exports, is also purchasing cruise missiles for fighter aircraft, including recently purchased F-18 Super Hornets.

Several nations, including Thailand and Indonesia, have warned of a possible regional arms race spurred by Australia's buy-up.

But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia needed a strong defense force and the ability to deploy overseas quickly.

"It's not that we have hostile intent towards anybody," Downer told local television.

Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said the five new ships would ensure Australia would be able to undertake "security stabilization" alongside key ally the United States.

Almost 28,000 U.S. and Australian troops this week began a major exercise across Australia's northern coastline involving an aircraft carrier battle group, tanks and and nuclear submarines. Canberra has around 1,500 troops in and around Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition, as well as a special forces task group in Afghanistan and peacekeepers in East Timor.

Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister

Written by: Michael Howard in Sulaymaniya.
Thursday June 21, 2007
The Guardian.

Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had struck an important deal with the central government in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster national reconciliation.

Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian the text had been finalised late last night after 48 hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement" that was transparent and would benefit all the people of Iraq and help pull the country together, he said.

Iraq's oil revenue accounted for 93% of the federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6m barrels a day.

Mr Hawrami said the law provided for the setting up of two "regulated and monitored" accounts into which external and internal revenues would be deposited. The external account would include items such as oil export earnings and foreign donor money, while the internal fund would consist largely of customs and taxes. The federal government in Baghdad would take what it needed, and the rest would be automatically distributed to the Kurdistan regional government, which would get 17%, and to Iraq's governorates "according to their entitlement". Revenues would be distributed monthly, he said.

Mr Hawrami said the system would better enable Iraqis to track how and where the oil funds were being spent. The Kurds, for example, have complained that remittances to their self-rule region have been being held back by up to six months in Baghdad. Iraq's Sunni Arabs had also expressed concerns that they might miss out on their share.

Iraq's finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and the oil minister, Hussein Sharistani, were accompanying the president, Jalal Talabani, on a state a visit to China and could not be contacted for comment.

The new deal came days after a visit to Iraq by the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during which he rebuked politicians for failing to reach consensus on sharing oil revenues. The US sees the deal as a benchmark of progress toward reconciliation.

A western diplomat in Baghdad said last night: "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is important to finding a sustainable political solution in Iraq. But on its own it will not halt the sectarianism."

Full coverage:

• Special report: Iraq.
• The trial of Saddam Hussein.

Britain and Iraq:

• In memoriam: 100 British troops killed in Iraq
• Special report: UK politics and Iraq.

Interactive guides:

• Saddam's trial.
• More click-through graphics on Iraq.

Key documents:

• Full text of speeches and documents.

Audio reports:

• Audio reports on Iraq.

In this section:

• Mental stress of troops in Iraq no bar to longer duty, US says.
• Kidnapped Britons being held by group backed by Iran - US general.
• Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister.
• 10,000 US troops attack Sunni insurgents.
• Number fleeing homeland starts to rise.
• US hopes soldiers play it safe with new pack of ancient site cards.
• Patrol discovers horrific abuse of Iraqi orphans.
• US to increase Iraq tours despite trauma warnings.
• Chronicle of US chaos in Iraq wins £30,000 non-fiction prize.
• Iraq was on course until 2003 UN bombing, says Blair.
• US troops kill 22 in offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq.
• Baghdad mosque bombing kills 75.
• Browne admits to mistakes surrounding sailors captured by Iran.
• US forces launch major assault on Diyala.
• Playing cards teach US troops to respect ruins.

N. Korea's frozen $20M on the move

Source: CNN, June 15, 2007.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Money at the heart of a dispute that caused North Korea to delay its nuclear disarmament was finally making its way Friday to the communist nation after months of delay.

The transfer of funds previously frozen in a Macau bank could lead North Korea to start shutting down its nuclear weapons program. But the North is certain to want to count every last penny of its $25 million before fulfilling a February pledge to stop making atomic bombs.

"The transfer is in progress," South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told reporters Friday. "Let's wait and see how long it takes for North Korea to confirm it."

Chun, arriving from Washington where he met his U.S. counterpart over the nuclear standoff, did not provide further details of the transfer. He said resolving the bank dispute constitutes "removing the first obstacle to implementing" the February disarmament deal.

"The future task of denuclearization is much more difficult than the (banking) issue," he said.

The money had been frozen at Macau's Banco Delta Asia since 2005, when the U.S. blacklisted the bank for allegedly helping the Pyongyang regime pass fake US$100 bills and launder money from weapons sales.

The North made the money's release its main condition for disarmament and boycotted international nuclear talks for more than a year, during which it conducted its first-ever bomb test in October.

But to win the North's promise to start dismantling its nuclear program, the U.S. agreed to give its blessing for the money to be freed and said it would happen within 30 days. The transfer has instead taken more than four months as the North insisted that it be sent electronically to another bank, apparently to prove the money is now clean.

Macau's secretary of economy and finance said Thursday the money has been transferred, but it remained unclear if it was the entire amount or whether it had reached its destination.

"Banco Delta Asia transferred more than $20 million out of the bank this afternoon in accordance with the client's instruction," Francis Tam told reporters on the sidelines of a business gathering.

North Korea could seize on any shortage of funds to hold off on disarmament. Since the latest nuclear standoff began in late 2002, Pyongyang has repeatedly displayed its profound lack of trust of the U.S. and blamed any sign of American hostility as a reason to stall arms talks.

The North did not yet comment on the transfer.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki on Friday pressed Pyongyang to take concrete action regardless of the fund issue.

"We strongly urge North Korea to carry out the measures they have committed to as early as possible regardless of the" bank issue, he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso expressed skepticism that the money transfer would immediately resolve the deadlock, Kyodo News agency reported.

"Even though the fund transfer problem is resolved, North Korea could come up with more demands," Aso said. "There is no guarantee we can resume the six-party talks right away."

Negotiators from China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and the two Koreas last all met for arms talks in March.

India escapes U.S. list of worst human traffickers

Source: CNN, June 13, 2007.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- India, which advocacy groups say may have as many as 65 million forced laborers, was spared the worst ranking on the State Department's new list of nations where humans are bought and sold.

Countries not doing enough to combat human trafficking could face sanctions if they don't take steps to improve.

The annual Trafficking in Persons report, released Tuesday, says that as many as 800,000 people -- largely women and children -- are trafficked across borders each year. Many are forced into prostitution, sweatshops, domestic labor, farming and child armies.

U.S. officials told CNN the question of India's ranking caused a heated debate between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

Negroponte wanted India listed as a Tier 3 country, or worst offender. Rice overruled him out of concern about alienating the Indian government. India is on the Tier 2 watch list.

Rice agreed to undertake a special evaluation of India in six months, and then take action if India does not make improvements.

Mark Lagon, ambassador at large for the State Department's Trafficking in Persons office, said Tuesday that "many different variables" played into the decision.

"I would be perpetuating a fraud to say that we don't look at multiple factors in our relationship with countries any time we take a step on a particular issue like human trafficking," he said.

Worst offenders could face penalties.

The United States added Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar and Bahrain to Tier 3 as countries that are destinations for trafficking victims who are exposed to sexual exploitation and forced labor. (Read the report).

Saudi Arabia, a nation considered friendly toward the United States, also is a Tier 3 country.

The State Department also lists Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela as Tier 3 countries, defined as those "whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards" set by American law and "are not making significant efforts to do so."

These countries have 90 days to take additional steps to combat trafficking or face penalties. Penalties could take the form of sanctions, including withholding of non-humanitarian and non-trade-related U.S. assistance and U.S. opposition to assistance through international financial institutions.

President Bush can waive sanctions if he deems it in the United States' interest.

The Bush administration has increased attention to the trafficking problem in recent years as a part of its focus on promoting democracy and human rights as the cornerstone of Bush's foreign policy agenda, specifically in the Middle East.

The United States, however, is not immune to the problem. The State Department estimates 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year.

Trafficking victims rescued in the United States are eligible for a special visa and help getting their passports back from their traffickers.

Other countries on the watch list.

The United States put several countries on notice that they risk being put on the Tier 3 list if they fail to take adequate steps to combat human trafficking. China, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Mexico, the Philippines and Russia were among 32 on a Tier 2 watch list, and under U.S. law will receive special scrutiny and be subject to an interim assessment before next year's report.

India was put on the watch list for the fourth year in a row "for its failure to show increasing efforts to tackle India's large and multidimensional problem," according to the report.

The report found while the Indian government was making significant efforts to combat trafficking, it "did not recognize the country's huge population of bonded laborers," which advocacy groups estimate to range from 20 million to 65 million.

The report also found efforts by Indian law enforcement agencies to punish traffickers "uneven and largely inadequate."

Rahul Chhabra, spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington, told CNN that the Indian government is reviewing the report.

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 mandated the State Department report as a way of combating human trafficking around the world and punishing those responsible.

'Military plan against Iran is ready'

This article has been reprinted from The Jerusalem Post. Go Sen. Joe! At least someone is watching...

By YAAKOV KATZ

Predicting that Iran will obtain a nuclear weapon within three years and claiming to have a strike plan in place, senior American military officers have told The Jerusalem Post they support President George W. Bush's stance to do everything necessary to stop the Islamic Republic's race for nuclear power.

Bush has repeatedly said the United States would not allow Iran to "go nuclear."

• Israel successfully launches Ofek 7 spy satellite.
• JPost special: US candidates talk tough on Iran.

A high-ranking American military officer told the Post that senior officers in the US armed forces had thrown their support behind Bush and believed that additional steps needed to be taken to stop Iran.

Predictions within the US military are that Bush will do what is needed to stop Teheran before he leaves office in 2009, including possibly launching a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

On Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said the US should consider a military strike against Iran over its support of Iraqi insurgents.

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," he said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

According to a high-ranking American military officer, the US Navy and Air Force would play the primary roles in any military action taken against Iran. One idea under consideration is a naval blockade designed to cut off Iran's oil exports.

The officer said that if the US government or the UN Security Council decided on this course of action, the US Navy would most probably not block the Strait of Hormuz - a step that would definitely draw an Iranian military response - but would patrol farther out and turn away tankers on their way to load oil.

On Sunday, the Israel Air Force held joint exercises with visiting US pilots, but IDF sources dismissed speculation that the drills were connected to an attack on Iran.

The US officer said that perhaps even more dangerous to Israel and the Western world than Iranian nukes was the possibility that a terrorists cell associated with al-Qaida or global jihad would acquire a highly radioactive "dirty bomb" or a vial of deadly chemical or biological agents. The officer said al-Qaida was gaining a strong foothold in the Middle East and that Israel was being surrounded by global jihad elements in Lebanon, Jordan and Sinai.

"Iran is a state-sponsored type of terrorism that can be dealt with," he said, adding that it was far more difficult to strike at the source of an isolated terrorist cell.

To combat this threat, the US Navy has come up with a plan for a "1,000-ship navy" - a transnational network composed of navies from around the world that would raise awareness of maritime threats and more effectively thwart sea-based terrorism and the illicit transfer of arms by sea.

"The idea is to allow free trade and to prevent criminal and terror activity at sea," the officer said.

A smaller-scale example of the US Navy's vision is NATO's Active Endeavor antiterrorism operation based in Naples. Israel plans to send an officer to be stationed there in the coming months. NATO launched Operation Active Endeavor in wake of 9/11 and has succeeded in bringing together a number of Mediterranean countries to work together in Naples to share information on naval terrorism and suspicious vessels in the region.

Operation Thanks for Freedom!

Help collect cards, e-mails, etc, to send to the troops for the Fourth of July. Details at DoD Daily News-2. This will remain up until June 9, 2007. Have a blessed day.

U.S. House members blast China

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Congress members rebuked China on a range of issues, criticizing Beijing's test of an anti-satellite weapon, its military buildup, its policy of forced abortion, its support of ruthless regimes, and its repatriation of North Korean refugees in violation of international law.

At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday, lawmakers repeatedly expressed concern over China's suitability to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

"If ever there was a time for China to get its house in order, this is it," said committee chairman Tom Lantos, a Democrat.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican and long a strident critic of China, noted that the United States has played a significant role giving China the wherewithal to become a military power because of China's robust U.S.-bound exports.

"We have built up a Frankenstein that now threatens us," Rohrabacher said.

In a similar vein, Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a Republican, noted that China is planning a 17.8 percent increase in its military budget for the next financial year.

"Who's the target?" she asked.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte testified that the motives behind China's military buildup are unclear and are a matter of concern to both United States and China's neighbors.

"To enhance -- rather than detract from -- regional security, China should be more open about its military budget, doctrine, and intentions," said Negroponte, who is the chief adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on China and Asia in general.

Negroponte agreed with China's critics on the committee that Beijing falls short on a number of issues. But, he said, the overall picture is not uniformly negative.

He said it would not have been possible in the relatively recent past to imagine China supporting U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea -- as it did last year after Pyongyang tested a nuclear weapon.

"They are capable of shifting," Negroponte said, referring to the Chinese authorities. "They are changing."

As another example, he cited China's relations with other East Asian countries.

"China's improved relations with its neighbors are a testament to the country's robust trade ties, but also to China's increasingly skillful diplomacy. This is a positive development," he said.

China caused a stir last January when it downed one of its own satellites, using a missile warhead. It triggered fears of a big power competition for supremacy in space, and China's unwillingness to comment on the action for almost two weeks caused widespread unease.

Negroponte raised the possibility that the Chinese military may have undertaken the action on its own, without the knowledge of the country's political leadership.

Pressure on Sudan urged

Sitting behind Negroponte were a group of people wearing shirts emblazoned with the words: "Genocide Olympics."

This was a reference to the support China has shown for the Sudanese government, despite Khartoum's role in the violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. The Bush administration has characterized the suffering there as genocide.

Several committee members also criticized China's support for Sudan. Negroponte agreed that Beijing "is seen as Khartoum's diplomatic patron and benefactor."

But he also said the United States has had a "measure of success" in sensitizing the Chinese leadership to the need to respond to the human suffering in Darfur.

Amnesty International made public on Tuesday a letter signed by 96 senators to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging him to increase the pressure on Sudan.

Specifically, the letter calls on Hu to reconsider his offer to Sudan of an interest-free loan to build a presidential palace in Khartoum.

"We believe that extending such a loan would clearly send the wrong message to Khartoum," the letter said.

It urged Hu to impress on President Omar al-Bashir the need to halt Sudanese military operations in Darfur and to withdraw Sudanese troops from the area.

Senator proposes Korean flag swap with US warship

Source: CNN, April 19, 2007.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A senator sees it as a fair trade: a Korean battle flag captured in the 19th century for the USS Pueblo, taken in 1968.

Republican Sen. Wayne Allard reintroduced a resolution Wednesday demanding that North Korea return the Pueblo, and he sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggesting she look into his proposed exchange.

"Since the USS Pueblo bears the name of the town of Pueblo, Colorado, many in our state want to see the vessel returned to its proper home," Allard wrote. "North Korea continues to hint at the possible return of the captured U.S. Navy ship, and I ask that you take action at this opportune time."

The Pueblo is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. It was taken Jan. 23, 1968, after being sent defenseless on an intelligence-gathering mission off the North Korean coast.

Allard said Colorado veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars suggested exchanging the flag. It was captured from Korean Gen. Uh Je-yeon in an 1871 battle after American ships attempting to open Korea to trade invaded Kanghwa Island, outside Seoul. The flag is on display at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.

The Pueblo "belongs to the United States Navy, and we should pursue all possible options to return her to a rightful resting place," Allard said.

Navy records show the Pueblo was in international waters when it was captured, although the North Koreans insist it was inside the Korean coastal zone. One person was killed in an explosion during the attack, and 10 of the 82 surviving crewmen were wounded. All 82 were held 11 months before being sent to South Korea on Christmas Eve.

The North Koreans display the ship as a trophy and a monument to the rocky relationship between the two nations.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, and other U.S. officials were given a tour of the Pueblo during a visit this month to collect the remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War. (His reaction)

They were told that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, had decreed that the ship should be used for "an anti-American education."

Members of President George W. Bush's administration who accompanied Richardson on his trip did not board the ship with Richardson and nongovernmental members of his entourage.

Report: Sudan agrees to U.N., AU troops

Source: CNN, April 15, 2007.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Sudan has signed a joint agreement with the United Nations and the African Union that defines their respective roles in Darfur, the official Saudi news agency reported.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir phoned Saudi King Abdullah and told him the Sudanese government had signed the agreement, the SPA news agency reported Sunday.

It quoted the king as saying the agreement "will support Sudan's unity, security, stability and peace." No additional details were provided.

In New York, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said she could not immediately confirm the Saudi report.

Abdullah, along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, met al-Bashir at an Arab summit in Riyadh last month to discuss the introduction of U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur.

The news came as Libya announced it will host representatives from the U.S. and several European and African countries in late April to discuss the crisis in Darfur.

The conference will be held in Tripoli on April 28th and will include officials from the U.S., the European Union, the African Union, Sudan, Chad and Eritrea, said Ali al-Teraiki, the AU representative in Libya's foreign ministry.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million forced to flee their homes in the four-year conflict in Darfur, which began when rebels from ethnic African tribes rose up against the central government. The government is accused of responding by unleashing the Janjaweed militias of Arab nomads -- blamed for indiscriminate killing. The government denies the charges.

The United Nations and Sudan agreed in November on a three-stage plan to strengthen the undermanned and underequipped AU peacekeeping force of 7,000 in Darfur. It was to culminate in the deployment of a joint AU-U.N. force with 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers.

The first phase, a light support package including U.N. police advisers, civilian staff and additional resources and technical support, has already been sent to Darfur.

The U.N., AU and Sudan agreed on a second phase last Monday -- including more than 3,000 U.N. troops, police and other personnel as well as substantial aviation and logistics equipment. But Sudan rejected a proposal to include six attack helicopters.

Al-Bashir has backed off from the final stage, saying he would only allow a larger AU force, with technical and logistical support from the United Nations. He maintains that deployment of U.N. troops would violate Sudan's sovereignty.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was in Khartoum Sunday as part of the international push to persuade the government to accept the larger third-phase force. His visit comes as the United States is holding off on imposing sanctions against Sudan so negotiations can take place on the proposal.

On Monday, Ban is to host a meeting at U.N. headquarters attended by AU negotiators to try to get a political agreement on Darfur.

Excuse me, but this is not news. We already know that al-Bashir will not allow UN Peacekeepers into the country. We already know that al-Bashir is using the janjaweed to murder civillians in Darfur. So what is new? They had another dead-end meeting? They've been stringing everyone along since we screamed loud enough for you to hear us! Do Not Write Another Article Until You Have Some News.

The State Department yields (again) to North Korea

Source: Opinion Journal Online.
April 13, 2007.

Tomorrow is the 60-day deadline for North Korea to come clean about its nuclear program, and it will be fascinating to see how much it admits. On the evidence of the last week, however, don't be surprised if Kim Jong Il concludes that the Bush Administration will accept whatever he declares.

The U.S. has sent precisely that signal by succumbing to the dictator's demands that the U.S. release $25 million gained by North Korea's criminal enterprises. The money comes from 52 North Korean accounts at Banco Delta Asia, a little bank in the Chinese territory of Macau. Macau froze the funds 18 months ago at the behest of the U.S. Treasury.

The U.S. had originally agreed to release half of the money in return for North Korea's February promise to give up its nuclear weapons program. But Treasury initially said it would not release some $12.5 million that was the clear product of such illegal activity as drug trafficking, money laundering, missile proliferation and a huge counterfeiting operation in hundred-dollar U.S. bills. The money was to go into a fund for humanitarian use in North Korea.

In its report on the Macau bank released last month, Treasury cited the "routine use" of couriers to ferry huge sums of currency in and out of the bank, to the tune of $50 million by a single depositor in 2002. It said individuals and entities with ties to North Korea have been linked to "trade in counterfeit U.S. currency, counterfeit cigarettes, and narcotics." That includes companies suspected of laundering "hundreds of millions of dollars in cash" through Banco Delta Asia.

Not surprisingly, North Korea immediately declared that it would refuse any further negotiation until the U.S. turned over the entire $25 million. Also not surprisingly, the State Department argued that the U.S. should do so lest the nuclear talks fall apart. President Bush agreed with State, and Macau lifted its hold on the money this week.

The Bush Administration is selling this dirty-money deal as a requirement of diplomatic realism and a price that must be paid for the larger strategic goal of getting North Korea to cooperate. But it's also true that the U.S. is allowing Kim to get away with his ill-gotten gains. Only weeks after the Treasury laid out a detailed rap sheet, the U.S. says never mind.

The bigger issue is the message this sends about the "arms control" process now under way. Under the February deal, Kim is obliged to shut down the nuclear facility at Yongbyon and disclose all of his nuclear programs and weapons. He is also obliged to open all of those to international inspection before the U.S. and other countries give him any more aid or money. But Pyongyang's pattern has long been to admit as little as possible every step of the way, and then insist that the U.S. must make further concessions at every instance. By caving on the $25 million, the U.S. is telling Kim he can keep playing this game.

Japan has the better idea. This week it extended its sanctions for another six months--no imports of North Korean products, no port visits by North Korean ships. Last month it testified at the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs about the North's illegal trade in amphetamines. Under the February nuclear deal, it is refusing aid to the North until Pyongyang provides information on the Japanese citizens it abducted and may still be holding.

Meanwhile, life for the 23 million North Koreans is, if anything, grimmer than ever. There were reports of famine this winter. The authorities are cracking down harder on Koreans who flee to China seeking food or work and are caught and repatriated, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The South Korean press reports that Pyongyang has ordered its diplomats stationed abroad to send their children home, apparently to help prevent defections. The return of the $25 million will only help Kim reinforce his control.

Assuming Pyongyang even meets tomorrow's deadline, the U.S. will have to decide how much it can believe the North Korean declaration. The goal should be dismantling North Korea's entire nuclear program, not continuing arms-control negotiation for its own sake.

North Korea disarmament deadline slips

Source: CNN.
April 14, 2007.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- The U.S. envoy to North Korea's nuclear talks said Saturday that a two-month-old disarmament plan lacks "momentum" as North Korea failed to meet a deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor and processing facility.

"We don't have a lot of momentum right now. That is for sure," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters before meeting his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei.

The disarmament plan, reached in February after nearly four years of arduous negotiations, laid out a timetable for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programs. The plan was unexpectedly disrupted by a dispute over frozen North Korean funds in a Macau bank that Washington said this past week was finally resolved.

On Friday, Hill did not say what the consequences would be if the North missed the Saturday deadline.

"There is no reason why the DPRK can't get on with the task of denuclearization," said Hill, using the official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We are not indifferent to missing a deadline. Obviously it is a very important date," he said. "We will work with our other partners on the appropriate response to the current circumstances."

As part of the disarmament agreement, the North was supposed to gain access to $25 million in frozen funds at the Banco Delta Asia bank in the Chinese territory of Macau. The bank was blacklisted by Washington in September 2005 for allegedly helping the North launder money and pass counterfeit $100 bills.

The funds were unblocked this week, but North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Friday it was still confirming the release. The Ministry said the country would carry out its side of the February agreement "when the lifting of the sanction is proved to be a reality."

North Korea alarmed the world in October when it conducted its first-ever underground nuclear test. After a 13-month boycott of nuclear talks, it agreed in February with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for energy aid and political concessions, along with a U.S. promise to resolve the bank issue.

Macau's Monetary Authority, which has taken control of the bank, has been tightlipped about the process of releasing the frozen funds.

But Hill said Friday that the U.S. considered the problem resolved.

"It's certainly worrisome to all of us to see them approaching this date rather lethargically. ... We understood their concerns about the banking issue and frankly those concerns have been met," he said.

U.S. officials and experts say the process of shutting down a reactor and having U.N. nuclear inspectors verify it would take at least several days -- making it virtually impossible for the North to meet the Saturday deadline.

"It's a technical question, but it does not take that long," Hill said. "We're not talking months or anything like that. There should be no reason to go slow in this process."

He would not say how long the other countries would wait for North Korea to act on its promises.

"I don't want to put a date or an hour, but another month is not in my constitution," he said.

The only immediate cost the impoverished North would suffer for not shutting 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 program.

However, it is unlikely the U.S. or other countries would take any punitive action, as Washington also failed to resolve the bank issue within 30 days as promised.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, was still awaiting an invitation from North Korea for a preliminary visit, a diplomat familiar with the issue said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

After a visit by two senior IAEA officials to establish procedures for an inspection tour, the agency's board would meet to approve the first return of inspectors since December 2002, when North Korea kicked them out and quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The process could take weeks.

Libyan, Eritrean observers on Sudan-Chad border

Just one minute! Are they crazy?! Ugh!

Source: CNN.
April 12, 2007.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) -- Libyan and Eritrean military and security observers have been deployed at the border between Sudan and Chad, scene of recent clashes, a Libyan mediator said on Thursday.

"We agreed on positive steps and the presence of military and security observers on the border from Libya and Eritrea, and from Chad and Sudan, and right now some of them are there on the border," Ali Triki, Libya's envoy on Chad and Sudan, told a news conference.

He did not say when the observers were deployed or how many had been sent there.

"I believe the confidence between both countries will return to normality, and if they respect agreements then we will not even need observers," said Triki, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's top adviser on African issues.

Gadhafi has taken the lead in trying to broker peace between Chad and Sudan, which have traded threats and accusations since a clash on Monday when Sudan said 17 of its soldiers were killed.

Chad denied any deliberate assault on its eastern neighbor, but said its forces had clashed with Sudanese troops after crossing the border to pursue Sudanese-backed rebels it said were launching raids.

That incident marked a sharp flare-up of tension between the two oil-producing central African countries, which have seen their ties become increasingly marred by violence spilling over from the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Both Sudan and Chad are resisting international efforts to deploy U.N. peacekeeping forces.

A late February summit hosted by Gadhafi to keep the peace between Chad and Sudan agreed "observation mechanisms" along the Darfur frontier.

Sudan has witnessed a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at easing tensions with Chad, including a visit by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The No. 2 U.S. State Department official, John Negroponte, is due to arrive in Sudan on Thursday and then head to Libya and Chad to press for solutions to the Darfur crisis.

Negroponte is expected to deliver a tough message from Washington on Darfur. Sudanese officials have said international pressure on Darfur will only deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Sudan expected to resist U.S. pressure on Darfur

Source: CNN.
April 9, 2007.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Reuters) -- Sudan is unlikely to ease its opposition to the deployment of U.N. troops in Darfur this week when a top U.S. official visits, but there are signs it may be flexible on boosting African troops in the troubled region.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is expected to deliver a tough message from Washington, which has threatened new measures to try to break Sudan's resistance to international troops to back the ill-equipped African Union forces

The AU operates an overstretched 7,000-strong force in Darfur, where violence has persisted despite a 2006 peace agreement between the government and one rebel faction. Unidentified gunmen killed five AU troops last week.

Negroponte also will visit Chad and Libya, two other players in the Darfur conflict. It is not clear when he will arrive in Sudan on a regional tour.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is known for his diplomatic skills and is promoting his country as a mediator in African affairs, will arrive in Sudan on Tuesday and is expected to discuss the Darfur issue.

At the heart of the debate is the outcome of a November meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The United Nations says Khartoum agreed then to a three-phase plan that would end with a hybrid AU-U.N. operation in Darfur.

Sudan said it only agreed to the first two phases of U.N. logistical and financial support.

After a meeting with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Saturday, African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare backed Khartoum, saying that there had been a clear agreement in Addis Ababa that there would be a hybrid force consisting of an African force under AU command, with logistical, financial and administrative assistance from the United Nations.

But he said the size of the African force had yet to be determined. The AU and United Nations were holding discussions on the issue Monday in a technical meeting in Addis Ababa.

Al-Bashir, who says U.N. troops would amount to foreign occupation, has made a vague reference to "reviewing" issues related to Darfur.

U.S. officials have said they were close to imposing new measures against Sudan, but an announcement appears to have been put on hold after U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he wanted more time to convince Bashir to accept a hybrid force.

The measures contemplated include adding more firms to a U.S. sanctions list as well as further limits on Sudanese firms doing business in dollars and slapping travel and banking restrictions on at least three more Sudanese individuals.

The United States also aims to pressure Bashir militarily by helping rebuild the forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which was at war with the north until a 2005 peace deal.

But Sudan, which has faced little pressure from the African Union and enjoys growing ties with China, has remained defiant.

State television gave prominence to a visit by the China's special envoy, Zhai Juan, who visited Darfur camps for the displaced and said international pressure would only hurt efforts to ease the suffering there.

Experts estimate that 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million fled their homes in Darfur since the conflict flared in 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central government. Khartoum says 9,000 died.

Sudan accused European countries on Saturday of withholding support for African Union troops in Darfur to try to force the need for U.N. military intervention.

All eyes on North Korea nuke action

Source: CNN.

(CNN) -- The United States will assess on Saturday whether North Korea has taken action to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, now that the communist nation has gained access to unfrozen funds, said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"It's now up to them, and we have to see," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy involved in nuclear talks with North Korea. "If they don't fulfill their obligations here, we'll know that very soon, and we'll have to deal with that accordingly."

Under a deal announced on February, North Korea said it would disarm its nuclear facilities in return for energy, financial and humanitarian aid. The agreement followed six-party talks involving the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

A major sticking point was the $25 million in North Korean funds, claimed by the United States to contain money from illegal activities, that had been frozen at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau since late 2005.

North Korea said it would close the nuclear reactor 30 days after the money was released, which occurred on Wednesday. (Full story)

"The problem in giving the money back to these accounts is, the North Koreans have not started the process of denuclearization," Hill said. (why the release of funds is so significant)

"We've made it clear to them that we're going to be watching carefully," Hill said. "They are really on notice."

The process of shutting down the reactor and reprocessing facility should be completed in a matter of weeks, Hill said.

Asked about whether North Korea may seek a 30-day extension, Hill said, "I just don't think it's very helpful to talk about extensions of any time at this point." The focus, he said, needs to be on starting the process of shutting down the reactor.

Concerns about keeping the money from going to "nefarious people for nefarious purposes" have been communicated to North Korea, and Pyongyang has pledged to work to keep that from happening, Hill said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said North Korea is willing to let its monitors verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon facility.

The release of North Korea's frozen funds coincided with a four-day trip by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a presidential contender, to bring the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War home. He left North Korea Wednesday with the remains of six U.S. soldiers, according to the communist nation's official news agency, KCNA. (Details)

"I am optimistic North Korea will shut down their reactor and return to six-party talks ... after our discussions," Richardson said. "Now the ball is in North Korea's court to take the next important steps."

The United States halted oil shipments to Pyongyang after North Korea admitted in October 2002 that it was developing a nuclear-weapons program in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework between the United States and North Korea.

Such oil shipments would resume under the February agreement.

Report: Asia upgrading military

Source: CNN.

April 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While China has been modernizing its military in recent years, Japan, South Korea and Russia -- all neighbors and potential rivals -- have been pushing ahead with upgrades of their own, according to a report released Tuesday.

But Taiwan's military spending has actually been decreasing, reflected in the government's failure to appropriate funds to buy $18 billion in U.S. arms authorized by President George W. Bush for sale in 2001, the report said.

The report, titled "U.S.-China Relations: An Affirmative Agenda, A Responsible Course," was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent private-research group based in New York.

The study said Japan has significantly upgraded capabilities over 15 years, even though it spends less than 1 percent of its gross national product on defense.

It has deployed the Aegis radar system and accompanying missile systems for its navy and advanced fighter aircraft armed with advanced air-to-air missiles for its air force, the report said.

"Japan is working in partnership with the United States to develop theater missile defenses, primarily oriented against the North Korean threat, but with obvious application in the event of any conflict with China," it added.

South Korea, the report said, has also undertaken a major modernization drive, replacing antiquated fighter aircraft, frigates, tanks, and artillery pieces with advanced systems, many of them purchased from the United States or developed in partnership with U.S. defense industries.

"South Korean forces enjoy a high level of interoperability with U.S. forces, proven again during South Korea's deployment of more than 3,000 troops to Iraq," it said.

The report noted that Russia is simultaneously China's largest supplier of advanced military hardware and also a potential great power rival.

Thanks to strong oil revenues, Moscow seems poised to begin a significant force modernization drive, the report said, pointing out that Russia's official defense budget has nearly quadrupled from $8.1 billion in 2001 to more than $31 billion in 2006.

While Russia may not complete an eight-year $190 billion military modernization plan announced in February, its growing capabilities "will complicate China's defense planning and force posture as its keeps a wary eye on its 4,300-kilometer border with Russia."

As for Taiwan, the study said that the island is not standing still even though it has not followed through on projected purchases from the United States. It said Taiwan is pursuing a $3 billion purchase of 60 new F-16 fighter aircraft to offset the retirement of aging F-5 fighters.

"But funding for this purchase has not yet been appropriated, and the United States is urging Taiwan to resolve at least some of the outstanding arms procurement issues before making any new requests," the report said.

Navy plans massive war games off Guam

Source: CNN.

April 10, 2007

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) -- The Navy will send three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam for large-scale exercises late this summer, the outgoing U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said.

The Valiant Shield war games will resemble exercises held near the U.S. territory last June. Those brought together some 28 ships, 280 airplanes and 22,000 troops.

Adm. Gary Roughead, announcing the exercises in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, said the Navy learned a great deal from last year's large-scale exercises and wanted to hold similar drills again to improve on some of the tactics used.

"It was very important I think to take that information and while everything was still fresh to say let's go ahead and do things again," Roughead said.

The war games will only involve U.S. troops but will include forces from different services. The Marine Corps and Air Force participated in last year's drills.

Last year's exercises -- the first Valiant Shield -- were the largest the United States has had in the Pacific since the Vietnam War.

The war games underscore the Navy boosted presence in the Pacific.

The Navy is moving forward with plans to base a majority of its attack submarines in the ocean by 2010. It also intends to have six of its 11 aircraft carriers in the Pacific.

Just last month, the Navy announced plans to base the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego after it undergoes maintenance in Virginia. The Vinson's move to California would bring to six the number of Pacific-based carriers.

The Navy has two carriers in San Diego, two in Washington state, and one based in Yokosuka, Japan.

Roughead, who is due to leave Hawaii next month to become the U.S. Fleet Forces commander in Norfolk, Virginia, included last year's Valiant Shield exercises among the highlights of his accomplishments at the Pacific Fleet.

He also cited the fleet's use of its ballistic missile tracking systems to track North Korea's launch of missiles last July and humanitarian work with the USNS Mercy as accomplishments.

But Roughead said the sailors deserved the praise.

"It really had been great being out here and being able to watch the men and women of our Navy go do so many things and to do it really well," Roughead said. "The credit goes to the sailors who are out there making it happen."

At Fleet Forces Command, Roughead will be responsible for planning how the Navy trains and equips its sailors in upcoming years. He will also direct Navy ships in the Atlantic, reporting to the U.S. Northern Command.

President Bush has nominated the current vice chief of naval operations, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard, to succeed Roughead.

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.

N. Korea funds impasse resolved

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Negotiators have agreed on a method to release $25 million (euro18.7 million) in North Korean funds that are frozen in an Asian bank, clearing up a hitch that has stalled nuclear disarmament efforts.

After two weeks of talks in Beijing, banking officials from the United States, China, North and South Korea and the Bank of China have agreed on a "pathway" for the money to be returned to Pyongyang, the State Department said Friday.

"We support the release of all the funds. It is now a matter of technical implementation," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, adding that the actual return of the money would be up to China and North Korea.

Previously, U.S. officials had suggested privately that some of the $25 million held in the blacklisted and now-shuttered Banco Delta Asia in the Chinese territory of Macau might be tainted and not released.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that Washington's top East Asia diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, secretly met a senior North Korean diplomat in New York recently and discussed how to resolve the financial dispute.

The Treasury Department said Friday its negotiators at the talks in China had worked to ensure the release of the money was consistent with international money laundering and other financial regulations.

"We stand ready to assist the Macanese authorities in their efforts to release the funds and with all parties to effectuate the North Korean pledge that any money received by them would be used for humanitarian purposes of benefit to the North Korean people," it said.

McCormack declined to comment on South Korean reports the money would be transferred to North Korea through the Bank of China in Hong Kong. He referred questions about specifics to authorities in China and Macau. A U.S. official in Beijing, however, denied the reports.

McCormack refused to predict if, or even when, the "pathway" would actually be employed but said the money returned must be used for the "betterment of the North Korean people and for humanitarian purposes."

He also announced that Hill would travel to the region on Sunday for talks with officials there on North Korea's progress in shutting down its main nuclear facility by a mid-April deadline.

Hill will travel to Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing to discuss the six-party process between North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan aimed at getting Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons program.

Hill's visit will coincide with a trip to North Korea by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi that will focus on the repatriation of the remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War.

The standoff over the money has threatened the next step in a February agreement committing North Korea to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility by April 14 in return for economic aid and political concessions.

The funds were frozen after Washington blacklisted the small Banco Delta Asia for alleged complicity in money laundering and other illicit activities by North Korea.

Pyongyang said the freeze showed Washington's hostile intentions toward it and refused to return to international talks on its nuclear program for more than a year.

The problems holding up the transfer of the money were believed to be related to difficulties finding a bank willing to accept the North Korean funds.

A top U.S. Treasury official, Daniel Glaser, had been in Beijing for 13 days trying to sort out the matter. He and his delegation left China on Friday without commenting on the resolution of the hitch.