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Inside the Ring By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES North Korea split Below the public facade of near unanimity on policy toward North Korea, the Bush administration's top national security officials are divided on the best way to deal with the North-created nuclear crisis. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz favor a policy of "regime change" as the ultimate solution. This view, we are told, is based on the almost unanimous intelligence assessment that Pyongyang's communist regime is not going to give up its nuclear arms, regardless of multiparty talks and diplomacy....

SEOUL, South Korea-- Pyongyang called a senior American official ''human scum'' for criticizing North Korea's leader, but the reclusive nation said it would still join U.S.-proposed multilateral talks on its suspected development of nuclear weapons. The United States, meanwhile, said Sunday it was committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff and was not trying to end communist leader Kim Jong Il's rule. North Korea said that it won't deal with U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton because he described the North's leader as a ''tyrannical dictator'' and said ''life is a hellish nightmare'' for many North Koreans....

North Korea has voiced opposition to US arms control chief John Bolton representing the United States in planned six-country talks about its nuclear weapons program, citing his reported criticisms of leader Kim Jong Il. Mr Bolton "is not entitled to take part in view of either the importance of the talks aimed to decide on peace and stability in Northeast Asia or human dignity," a spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency. The spokesman cited Mr Bolton's reported remarks about Mr Kim during his recent visit to Japan and South...

NORTH Korea has agreed to hold six-nation multilateral talks over its nuclear standoff with the United States, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said the message was delivered by North Korea's ambassador to Moscow, Pak Ui Chun, during a meeting Thursday with Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov.

Bush Could Make A Deadly Blunder Regardless of how bad a regime North Korea has, its demands of the United States are reasonable. They are four: one-on-one talks, a nonaggression treaty, economic aid and normal diplomatic relations. The Bush administration's obstinate refusal to consider these could prove to be one of the deadliest blunders in the history of stupid diplomacy. First, talks are always cheaper than wars. Why shouldn't the United States and North Korea hold one-on-one talks? There is no reason not to. We held one-on-one talks with the Soviet Union and with Communist China during the Cold War....

MOSCOW: Amid reports of Pyongyang's plans to declare itself a nuclear weapons state, Russia and the United States on Friday agreed to closely interact in seeking a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and US State Secretary Colin Powell during a telephonic conversation on Thursday night have reached an agreement in this regard, Russian foreign office said. "It is wrong to draw lopsided conclusions on North Korea's nuclear programmes and today nobody can assert whether Pyongyang has nuclear weapons or not," Russian Deputy Foreign minister Alexander Losyukov told NTV channel. Losyukov did not rule...

09:03 Tourism Minister Elon threatens to resign if diplomatic talks between Israel, PA continue under U.S. pressure

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas called separate meetings with leaders of the main Islamic militant groups in Gaza on Wednesday to persuade them to stop attacking Israelis. In a two-hour meeting with Hamas leaders, Abbas pressed for a halt to all attacks, but Hamas insisted on its right to target Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank, said Hamas official Ismail Abu Shanab. "We are trying to find a solution which is good for all of us," Abu Shanab said. Islamic Jihad leaders started a meeting with Abbas after the Hamas leadership left....

Talks deadlocked as Sharon demands 'war' on militantsHamas leaders reject 'surrender', while Israel says a ceasefire would not be enough to restart negotiations By Justin Huggler in Jerusalem 17 June 2003 Talks to persuade Palestinian militants to agree to a six-month ceasefire ended inconclusively last night, with Egyptian mediators returning home without success. As the talks appeared to reach a stalemate, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister said in a speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, that a ceasefire would not be enough and demanded "a comprehensive, ongoing war by the new Palestinian government" against the militants. New hopes for...

<p>SACRAMENTO - With less than a week to go before a June 15 deadline for adopting a state budget, the gap between Democrats and Republicans appeared to widen Monday as the state treasurer and GOP Senate leader traded accusations over spending and politics.</p>

Britain abandons Gibraltar talks By Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid and Nicole Martin (Filed: 09/06/2003) Britain has abandoned negotiations with Spain on sharing the sovereignty of Gibraltar. A Government minister told Spanish newspapers yesterday that the prospect of a deal was "simply zero". Denis MacShane, the Foreign Office minister responsible for Europe, admitted failure after nearly two years of talks and acknowledged that London could not impose a deal against the almost unanimous opposition of Gibraltar's population.The news is a resounding victory for Peter Caruana, Gibraltar's chief minister, who led a campaign of opposition to any dilution of British sovereignty. Two...

Iran blames Americans for failure of 'thaw' talks By Alan Philps in Baghdad (Filed: 26/05/2003) An attempt to thaw relations between America and Iran - estranged for the past 24 years - has broken down, complicating US efforts to stabilise the Middle East and form a democratic government in Iraq. The dialogue collapsed after the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, with American officials accusing Iran of harbouring al-Qa'eda terrorists allegedly involved in the attack. Washington is now considering "an aggressive policy of trying to destabilise the Iranian government", according to the Washington Post. The two countries had been...

Talks, terrorism can go together: Hizb Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin on Friday ruled out ceasefire in Kashmir. Salahuddin, who is also chairman of the United Jihad Council, said, "Can't the two -- dialogue and armed struggle -- go together?" According to leading Pakistani newspaper the Daily Times, in an indirect reference to America's role in resolving the Kashmir issue, he said, "They could use their clout positively." Asked about suicide attacks, he said, "The life of a mujahid is very precious. It should not be put to stake for a petty gain, but a colossal loss." In a statement...

US and Iran hold secret talks after 23 years of hostility By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 13 May 2003 The United States and Iran have held secret talks that could have an important bearing on the interlocking problems of Afghanistan, the future government of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Though Bush administration officials denied yesterday the dialogue could lead to a normalisation of relations, senior representatives of the two countries have had three rounds of talks this year. The next session is due next week in Geneva – technically under the auspices of the United Nations, but in practice they...

The United States and Iran held several meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, in an effort to ease friction between the two countries, a senior U.S. official said Monday. The meetings focused on a wide range of issues, including postwar Iraq, in which the Bush administration is attempting to deter Iran from trying to influence the formation of a new government in Baghdad. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a news conference here after a meeting with Egyptian officials, said the administration opposes a fundamentalist regime as not being in the interest of the Iraqi people. Powell echoed a similar statement weeks...

Iraqi Delegates Gather for Gov't Talks By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent BAGHDAD, Iraq - Stressing unity in a divided land, more than 200 delegates from inside and outside Iraq (news - web sites) haggled Monday over Iraq's future, meeting in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s elaborate convention hall under the protection of a ring of U.S. tanks. Clear differences among the delegates emerged on the United States' involvement, with exiles generally seeking a diminished role for Washington. Elsewhere, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, thanking U.S. troops for removing Saddam: "You...

UK to host North Korea arms talks By Andrew Gumbel 27 April 2003 Britain will add its voice to the intense international efforts to end the escalating crisis in North Korea this week, hosting a delegation from Pyongyang led by the deputy foreign minister, Choe Su-hon, in an effort to keep the lines of dialogue open. With the US apparently uncertain whether to pursue negotiation or take a more hardline approach to isolate Kim Jong Il's regime, the British government appears interested – as it was over Iraq – in maximising international participation. "In our view it's important to remain...

<p>WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is debating whether it is worth holding further nuclear talks with North Korea, following Pyongyang's vague threats to a U.S. envoy this week that it might test or even export nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials said Friday.</p>

Headline is the Chinese Communist official newspaper, the Global Times headline of the 21st announces: "China vigorously urges US - Korean talks The AP caption tones down the translation a bit: A Chinese man checks changes in his wallet near the front page of a Chinese paper with the headlines which read 'China urge North Korea (news - web sites) and US talks' and pictures showing the top leaders of the two countries at a newstand in Beijing, China, Monday, April 21, 2003. China's involvement in the coming tri-lateral talks is seen as critical to the success of the talks....

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Saturday it was willing to go more than half-way to hold talks with India and said discussions could cover all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. Foreign Minister Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri was responding to an offer for talks by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday, a breakthrough in the tense relations between the two countries, which almost went to war last year. He told Reuters that Vajpayee's statement in Srinagar on Saturday reiterating the need for peace was significant because it showed his remarks were "well thought out" and not just "off-the-cuff". "When you say...