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North Korea says it bars Japan from nuclear talks
Index:
North Korea says it bars Japan from nuclear talks
Pakistan Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile
Iran won't suspend uranium enrichment-minister
=====================================
North Korea says it bars Japan from nuclear talks
SEOUL, Oct 7 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday it would not
allow Japan to take part in any future multilateral talks on
Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, but Japan said it would not
accept the notion Pyongyang could decide who attends.
A statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, published by the
official KCNA news agency, said Japan had linked other bilateral
problems to the talks, such as the past abduction by North Korea of
Japanese nationals.
Japan joined China, Russia, South Korea and the United States in an
inconclusive first round of nuclear talks with North Korea in Beijing
in late August. The North has since said it is not interested in more
talks on a crisis which erupted a year ago.
"A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement today
that the DPRK would not allow Japan to participate in any form of
negotiations for the settlement of the nuclear issue in the future,"
KCNA said.
DPRK are the initials of the North's official name, the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea.
"The nuclear issue is not a bilateral issue between Japan and North
Korea, but is of serious consequence to the region and the
international community," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hatsuhisa Takashima told Reuters.
"We do not accept any notion that a certain country in the six-party
talks can be banned by any other party. The six-party talks are
formed with the participation of those countries that are gravely
concerned with the issue."
The North Korean statement said Japan's leaders had the "black-
hearted intention" of using the talks to try to bolster the Japanese
economy and their own political positions.
"Japan is nothing but an obstacle to the peaceful settlement of the
nuclear issue between the DPRK and the U.S.," said the statement. "It
has lost its qualification to be a trustworthy dialogue partner."
The North's statement implied there was the possibility of further
multilateral talks -- a significant shift from its earlier stated
intention of avoiding more negotiations.
The leaders of Japan, South Korea and China are in the Indonesian
resort of Bali for a summit of Southeast Asian countries and their
main regional partners. North Korea is one of the topics on their
agenda.
---------------------
Pakistan Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile
ISLAMABAD Oct 8 (Reuters) - Pakistan said it had test fired a medium-
range, nuclear-capable ballistic missile on Wednesday, the second
such test in less than a week.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said a Shaheen-I
(Hatf-IV) missile was "successfully tested" in the morning.
"It can carry all kinds of warheads," he said.
A statement from the Pakistan military said the surface-to-surface
missile had a range of up to 700 km (435 miles).
"The test is the part of the ongoing series of tests of Pakistan's
indigenous missile systems," it said.
Neighboring countries had been given prior notification of the tests
"in a spirit of confidence-building," the statement said.
Friday, Pakistan tested a short-range Hatf-III Ghaznavi missile that
rival India dismissed as nothing special.
Pakistan and India engaged in what were seen as a tit-for-tat missile
tests last March, when Islamabad tested the short-range Abdali (Hatf-
II) missile.
India test-fired the nuclear-capable Prithvi missile in April and
then a short-range, surface-to-surface missile in June.
Pakistan's latest tests came as Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali
was on a visit to the United States, where he is asking for U.S. help
to redress what Pakistan sees as a conventional arms imbalance in the
subcontinent.
India and Pakistan conducted a series of nuclear tests in 1998 and
last year.
Tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors have eased somewhat
this year after they came close to a fourth war in 2002 over an
insurgency in divided Kashmir. But there has been little progress
toward peace talks partly because of renewed violence in the disputed
Himalayan region.
--------------------
Iran won't suspend uranium enrichment-minister
TEHRAN, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it would continue
enriching uranium despite intense pressure from nations worried it
could develop its own nuclear arms.
A suspension of uranium enrichment is one of the demands of an
October 31 deadline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) that is calling on the Islamic Republic to prove it is not
seeking a nuclear warhead.
"We will not allow anyone to deprive us of our legitimate right to
use nuclear technology, particularly (uranium) enrichment for
providing fuel for nuclear plants," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi
was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Enriched uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power stations but if
enriched further can be used in atomic weapons.
Iran says enrichment is key to the country's civilian nuclear energy
programme because it means the whole project can be home-grown --
from mining uranium ore to fuelling reactors -- with no dependence on
foreigners at any stage of the process.
"The Iranian nation, by using the abilities and expertise of its own
children, has decided to pursue the path of progress," President
Mohammad Khatami said in a public speech in Khuzestan province, also
carried by IRNA.
Political analyst Hossein Rassam told Reuters Iran was committed to
the complete fuel cycle. "Enrichment is not something Iranians will
easily give up," he said.
Countries such as the United States fear that allowing Iran to
continue its uranium enrichment, even under IAEA supervision, would
give Iran a potential "break out" capacity to produce nuclear arms.
CONFIDENCE DEFICIT
The IAEA declined comment but diplomats in Vienna said it was
important for Iran to try to patch up what they describe as a serious
"confidence deficit."
"Iran is not doing much to inspire confidence at the moment," one
diplomat told Reuters. However, diplomats from IAEA board nations
acknowledge the demand to put enrichment on hold is not legally
binding.
Iran insists weapons-grade uranium found in the country originates
from contamination when equipment was bought in from abroad. On
Monday Tehran said it would give the IAEA a list of imported
components.
A speech from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last
word on all state issues, also lambasted pressure on Iran's nuclear
programme and exhorted people to resist the country's enemies.
"The international power centres, by continuing their plots, have
aimed to impede this country's progress," he was quoted as saying in
the hardline Jomhuri-ye Eslami newspaper. "All people...should stand
up against the enemy's demands."
However, Kharrazi said Iran had no plans to quit the nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a course espoused by hardliners.
"Iran is one of the proponents of the NPT and is determined to remain
one of its signatories," he told the conference.
Kharrazi reiterated Iran's stance that the development of nuclear
weapons would contravene its religious values.
He also repeated Iran's assertion that it was committed to a Middle
East free of nuclear weapons, where the biggest threat to security
was Israel's possession of the Bomb.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
Global Dosimetry Solution Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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