Thursday, November 14, 2002
Bush seeks to end oil shipments to North Korea
Associated Press Washington, November 14
President George W Bush wants to halt US oil shipments to North Korea in response to that country's secret nuclear weapons programme, administration officials said.
The policy, which US diplomats hope to press on its Asian allies later in the week, would allow delivery of a shipment currently on its way to North Korea. That would be the last shipment unless the Communist regime does an about-face on its nuclear weapons programme, the officials said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bush forged the policy in a meeting on Wednesday with his national security team, the officials said.
The United States and key allies have been discussing whether to halt US oil shipments to North Korea in response to its plans to develop a uranium bomb. The shipments are part of a broader energy assistance package approved for North Korea in 1994 as part of a deal to wean the country away from nuclear weapons and make the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free.
The fate of the shipments is in the hands of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, comprised of the United States , Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
KEDO's executive board was meeting in New York on Thursday. US diplomats hope to persuade its fellow KEDO members to back Bush 's policy. Some allies have expresses reservations about cutting off North Korea's oil, thus Bush sought a compromise plan that would punish North Korea without creating divisions within KEDO.
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