Posted on 08/29/2003 8:26:38 AM PDT by knighthawk
VIENNA: The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Friday that North Korea has been guilty of nuclear "blackmail" and could not be trusted, though he was encouraged by the six-country talks that took place in Beijing.
"I don't think they can be trusted," head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IDEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview on BBC television. "However, we would like to work with them and bring them back to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."
Pyongyang expelled the IAEA's inspectors at the start of the year and then withdrew from the NPT, the global pact aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. Since then tensions have risen over the rejuvenation of a nuclear programme in a communist country labelled part of an "axis of evil" by U.S. President George W. Bush.
As six-nation talks in Beijing over the crisis came to a close on Friday, North Korea spelled out a list of demands it had made to the United States, but said it would only scrap its nuclear programme if Washington 'dropped its "hostile policy".
ElBaradei also said in the interview, recorded on Thursday and aired on Friday, that he thought North Korea posed the world's biggest nuclear threat.
"It is the most dangerous (situation) in many ways, because they have the capability, if not already the weapons," he said. "But not only that, they are using it as blackmail and I think it sets a very dangerous precedent."
ElBaradei said he was encouraged by the Beijing talks, which he called a "first step in the right direction", but added that Pyongyang should make the first move by dismantling its facilities that produce bomb-grade plutonium.
"I don't think any settlement should be reached without a full, verified dismantlement of their nuclear capability," he said. "I think North Korea has to understand that they cannot blackmail and they need to come back to (the NPT)."
"I think they (should) also understand that once they come back and become a civilised member of the international community that the international community is ready to provide them humanitarian assistance and help the people who are dying out of hunger," he said.
He said that if the situation in North Korea was not resolved, it would send a very bad signal to countries with ambitions to build nuclear weapons.
"It sends a signal that if you want to protect yourself, if you want to get economic concessions, build a nuclear weapon. I think it sends a horrible message, that, and the way we treat North Korea will be very important for the future 'wannabes'"
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