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Pact signed on intercepting
N Korean weapons
By Bob Burton
CANBERRA - Ten
governments offered on Thursday their support for US
moves aimed at North Korea - to intercept shipping, air
or land transport of possible materials associated with
weapons of mass destruction or missiles capable of
delivering them.
After two days of talks hosted
in Brisbane by the Australian government, the meeting
approved a statement that endorsed the possibility that
one or more of the nations involved in the Proliferation
Security Initiative (PSI) could intercept shipments,
including those on the high seas.
The communique
describes such interception moves as "robust and
creative steps" to combat trafficking in a way that the
PSI members claim "would be consistent with existing
domestic and international frameworks".
Government officials openly acknowledge that the
PSI - launched in Madrid in mid-June - is primarily
directed at the North Korean government, which has
retreated from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Pyongyang has also annoyed the US government by selling
missiles to other countries such as Iran and Pakistan.
North Korea has conducted 70 high-explosive
tests linked to nuclear-weapons development, South
Korea's spy chief was quoted as saying Wednesday. Ko
Young-koo, a National Intelligence Service director,
said that Seoul has monitored high-explosive tests being
conducted in the northwest region of North Korea.
The Brisbane meeting attracted more than 100
defense and diplomatic officials from Australia, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United
States.
It agreed in principle to "a series of
interdiction training exercises, utilizing both military
and civilian assets as appropriate, and that such
exercises should take place as soon as practicable".
The first training exercise for intercepting
shipping and flights is likely to occur in September or
October. The meeting's final statement reported the
intention of PSI member nations to increase the level of
intelligence coordination on weapons of mass
destruction.
Ahead of the conference, the US
undersecretary of state for arms control and
international security, John Bolton, who attended the
Brisbane meeting, claimed that the United States and its
allies already had the legal basis to board and stop
North Korean shipping and even force suspect cargo
planes to land.
Bolton also dismissed as
"bluster" North Korean statements that it would view any
interception of its shipping as an act of war.
However, South Korea, which is not a member of
the PSI group, has warned against provocative rhetoric
adopted by Western countries. It is a view that is
shared by Japan.
Officials who attended the
meeting acknowledge that China's policy toward North
Korean missile exports is crucial but, at this stage,
unknown.
Scott Burchill, a lecturer in
international relations at Deakin University, warns that
the aggressive diplomacy of the United States and
Australia risks pushing the North Korean government into
further provocative moves. "It is a dangerous policy of
the US and Australia to provoke and push North Korea
into a corner where they might feel the only option they
have it to lash out in anger," he said.
Burchill
finds the international legal basis for intercepting
shipping very doubtful. "The ability to speculatively
seize ships is fraught with legal risks. There is a very
fine line between piracy and legal interdiction," he
said in an interview.
In their statement from
the meeting, the governments indicated that while there
may currently be legal limits to interception actions,
they plan to push for substantial changes in
international procedures.
"The increasingly
aggressive and sophisticated efforts by proliferators to
circumvent or thwart existing non-proliferation norms,
and to profit from the trade of weapons of mass
destruction and missiles or related items, requires new
and stronger enforcement action by law-abiding nations,"
the statement said.
Member nations of the PSI
have also agreed to explore the possibility of
intercepting movements of weapons materials by seeking
to involve other countries in preventing the movement of
shipments through the restriction of access to
overflight rights and refueling stops and greater
regulation of territorial waters.
The next
meeting of the group is scheduled for September.
The US government and other member nations of
the PSI have opted to bypass United Nations processes in
their approach toward North Korea.
However,
their final statement indicates that they expect other
countries to get behind their initiative. It said: "As
the PSI moves forward, they [member countries] aim to
involve all countries that have the will and ability to
take action to address this menace."
However,
Burchill does not accept the claims that North Korea
represents an imminent risk of proliferating weapons of
mass destruction. "I think the risk of actual
proliferation from North Korea has been exaggerated, but
their rhetoric is a response to being targeted by the US
as a 'rogue state'," he said.
Australian Prime
Minister John Howard was to leave Australia on Friday
for discussions next week with South Korean President
Roh Moo-hyun on North Korea.
A coalition of
Australian peace groups, including Friends of the Earth
Australia and the Australian Peace Committee, believe
that Howard should take advantage of Australia's good
relations with North Korea, Russia and China to calm the
situation down.
"Australia must take the lead
and press the [George W] Bush administration to stop
talking of military options and opt for a sensible
negotiated solution to the most important security
problem we now face," said spokesman John Hallam.
Burchill believes that the United States is
misreading North Korea's rhetoric, which he argues is a
demand for economic assistance cloaked in aggressive
rhetoric.
"If they were to ask for economic
assistance to help rebuild the country, no one would
talk to them. So they have attempted to turn their
nuclear program into the one card they have that forces
the US and other countries to the table," Burchill said.
(Inter Press Service)
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