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US expects APEC statement on North Korea
HANOI (AFP) - The White House has said that it expected leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific countries meeting here to issue a statement calling on North Korea to renounce nuclear weapons and return to disarmament talks.
Another White House official, who requested anonymity, said it would be a written statement but that it was unclear whether the statement would be separate from the summit's final communique. But the official said the statement would condemn North Korea's October 9 nuclear test, urge it to comply with international demands to abandon its atomic weapons programs and come back to six-party disarmament talks. "It will reiterate APEC leaders' concern over the missile launches and then the nuclear test and urge the North Koreans to comply with (UN Security Council Resolution) 1718 and to get back to the six-party talks," the official said. Thai foreign ministry spokesman Kitti Vasinonh said the statement would be separate from the leaders' wide-ranging end-of-summit communique but that differences remained on the format. "The reasons for having a separate statement is for members of APEC to give their common concerns on the Korean peninsula," he said. "There are still different views on how to proceed even though there is consensus on common concerns from all APEC economies on the situation in the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said. "The question is, how to move on the so-called joint statement, whether it is a written statement or a verbal statement, and the language," he said. Posted by: Steve White 2006-11-18 |
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