HindustanTimes=2Ecom http=3A//www=2Ehindustantimes=2Ecom/
Monday=2C October 9=2C 2006
=BB World =BB Rest of Asia =BB
Cambodia opposes North Korean nuclear test http=3A//www=2Ehindustantimes=2Ecom/news/181=5F1816151=2C00050004=2Ehtm
Agence France Presse
Phnom Penh=2C October 9=2C 2006
Cambodia on Monday said it opposed North Korea=27s decision to conduct i= ts first nuclear weapons test but urged the Stalinist state=27s critics to = react diplomatically=2E
=22Cambodia is a signatory against nuclear proliferation =2E=2E=2E so we=
are against (the test)=2C=22 Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said=2E
The communist state=27s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) earli= er announced that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test safely = and successfully and there was no radiation leak=2E
Khieu Kanharith also said the United States should officially declare th= at it would not invade North Korea=2E
The reclusive state has repeatedly claimed that Washington was preparing=
a military strike against it=2C making a nuclear arsenal necessary for its=
defence=2E
=22All the world wants to avoid this problem so there should be talks to=
find the solution=2C=22 he said=2E
North Korea pulled out of nuclear talks - involving the two Koreas=2C Ch= ina=2C the United States=2C Japan and Russia - in November 2005=2E
Cambodia is one of the few countries to have diplomatic ties with North Korea=2E Former king Norodom Sihanouk frequently stays in a palace in Pyongyang given to him by the country=27s first leader=2C Kim Il-Sung=2E=