23 June 2004
White House Report, June 23: Iraq, North Korea
Bush phone call to Iraq's Prime Minister, U.S. proposed aid in exchange for North Korea nuclear disarmament
PRESIDENT BUSH REITERATES COMMITMENT TO IRAQ
President Bush called Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to talk about the "progress being made to build a free and peaceful Iraq" and to reiterate his "commitment to help the Iraqi people," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters June 23.
Bush's phone call had been scheduled to take place before reports circulated of an assassination threat against Allawai, McClellan told reporters.
According to news reports, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a high-ranking al Qaeda operative in Iraq, allegedly made the threats against Allawai in an audiotape posted June 22 on an Internet web site.
McClellan said that Allawai is a "very strong and capable leader" who understands the importance of confronting security threats in Iraq.
"We will be there after the transfer of sovereignty to help the Iraqi people address these security threats," he said.
U.S. PROPOSES AID IN EXCHANGE FOR N. KOREA NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
U.S. delegates at multilateral talks in Beijing presented a "practical series of steps to achieve the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program," McClellan said.
According to reports, U.S. negotiators offered the proposal to North Korea June 23 as the third round of multilateral negotiations began.
Under the proposal, the United States and the other four nations participating in the talks (South Korea, China, Japan and Russia) would give North Korea energy aid and a security guarantee in exchange for ending its nuclear program, said the spokesman.
The six-party nuclear talks began in 2003 when North Korea expelled international monitors and lifted its freeze on nuclear weapons production.
"First you would have to have North Korea commit to the dismantlement of its nuclear program," McClellan said, "Then the nations could begin to agree to a detailed implementation plan of -- disablement, dismantlement, [and] elimination of all nuclear-related facilities and materials, centrifuge and other nuclear parts, fissile material and fuel rods, and a long-term monitoring program."
The spokesman noted that, if North Korea agrees to the proposal, the U.S. will take steps to ease North Korea's political and economic isolation. However, any lasting assistance to North Korea would be contingent on the verifiable dismantling of their nuclear program.
"A good faith action on North Korea's part will be met with a good-faith response by the other parties," McClellan said.
When asked about a timeline for North Korea's response, the spokesman responded, "we don't expect an immediate response."
"[A]ll parties are going to have go and look at these ideas and take them back to their capitals and discuss them. And we will see what their response is," McClellan said.
The third round of six-party talks is expected to continue in Beijing through June 25.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=June&x=20040623171513LShsaN0.5615045&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
