US Welcomes North Korean Invitation to UN Nuclear Chief

By David Gollust Washington 23 February 2007 Download

Condoleezza Rice

The United States is welcoming North Korea's invitation for a visit by the head of the U.N. nuclear agency as a positive indication that it intends to move forward on last week's deal to end its nuclear program. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking in the Canadian capital Ottawa Friday, called the early North Korean move a good sign. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The February 13 agreement gave North Korea 60 days to shut down its nuclear reactor complex at Yongbyong in exchange for a first installment of energy assistance.

And Bush administration officials are taking the North Korean invitation for a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei as an encouraging sign of good faith by Pyongyang in implementing the multi-stage disarmament deal.

The ElBaradei visit, expected to occur in the next few weeks, would lay groundwork for the return of international nuclear inspectors to North Korea for the first time in more than four years.

At a news conference in Ottawa capping a three-way U.S.-Canada-Mexico political dialogue, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she had yet to discuss the invitation with ElBaradei but said the fact that the North Korean overture came so soon is indeed a good sign.

"We are really very pleased that the I.A.E.A. is now receiving the initial steps to be able to go back into North Korea, and be able to verify compliance with the agreement that is to take place over the next 60 days that would shut down the Yongbyong reactor, and would seal it, so that we can move on to the next phase, which is the disablement of the nuclear facilities of North Korea, on the way to the full denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said.

Over the span of the deal, North Korea is to receive one million tons of fuel oil or equivalent outside aid, as well as diplomatic and security benefits in exchange for irreversibly ending all aspects of its nuclear program, including the weapons effort that produced a test explosion last October.

After the initial 60-day period, all participants in the six-party nuclear talks, including Russia, Japan and South Korea as well as North Korea, the United States and China are to meet at the ministerial level in Beijing to review compliance.

That would include Secretary Rice's first face-to-face encounter with her North Korean counterpart, but under questioning in Ottawa Rice said it is premature to discuss a trip by the Secretary to Pyongyang.

The new U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is to consult on the nuclear issue in a visit next week to Japan, China and South Korea.

VOASE0223_In the News

23 February 2007

Britain to Withdraw 1,600 Troops in Iraq, and More May Follow
Tony Blair says cuts are possible because of the increased readiness of Iraqi forces to take control. The White House calls the move a ''sign of success.''

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This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced this week that one thousand six hundred British troops will leave Iraq in the coming months.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair

Britain has more than seven thousand troops in Iraq. The forces to be withdrawn are in the Basra area in the south. Most of those remaining will be located at Basra air base. Their tasks will include training and supporting Iraqi forces and securing the border with Iran.

Mister Blair said the withdrawal was possible because of the increased readiness of Iraqi forces to take control. He said he hopes to reduce British troops levels to below five thousand later this year. He says British forces will stay in Iraq into two thousand eight as long as they are wanted and have a job to do.

Tony Blair has said he will leave office by September after ten years as prime minister. The Labor Party leader has lost popularity and has decided not to seek a fourth term.

Britain has been the biggest ally of the United States in Iraq. Britain deployed forty thousand troops for the invasion in two thousand three. That number fell to about nine thousand two years ago.

A spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House had this reaction to the announcement:

"President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad."

The British announcement came as the Bush administration is increasing American troop strength in the Baghdad area. The president recently announced an increase of more than twenty thousand troops in Iraq, raising the number above one hundred fifty thousand.

Baghdad remains the center of violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Mister Blair said the situation in the capital cannot be compared to Basra, a Shiite city where attacks are aimed largely at coalition forces.

In addition to the British, about four hundred sixty Danish soldiers under British command in southern Iraq will be withdrawn by August. And Lithuania says it is considering withdrawing its fifty-three troops in southern Iraq.

Britain will remain the second largest foreign military presence in Iraq. South Korea is third. South Korea has deployed more than two thousand troops in the Kurdish-controlled north. But it plans to withdraw half of them soon.

Others with hundreds of troops in Iraq include Georgia, Poland, Romania, Australia and El Salvador. Countries that have already withdrawn include Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Japan and New Zealand.

Vice President Dick Cheney said this week in Japan that terrorists would see it as weakness if American troops left Iraq too soon. Sixty-three percent of Americans in a recent opinion study said they support a withdrawal by two thousand nine.

On Friday, British media reported that Britain is about to announce an additional one thousand troops for Afghanistan. Taleban forces are expected to launch a spring offensive.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.