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Trip to N.Korean blast site delayed by logistics
A trip by diplomats to the site of a mysterious blast in North Korea has been delayed for logistical reasons, Western diplomats based in Pyongyang said on Wednesday. British Ambassador David Slinn said he would likely have a more precise schedule later in the day for a tour of the site of last Thursday's explosion, which initially sparked fears that the isolated North had tested an atomic weapon. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being very cooperative" in "keeping with the spirit" of the recent visit by Home Office minister Bill Rammell, Slinn said by telephone. North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun told Rammell on Monday the blast was part of work to remove a mountain to make way for a hydroelectric project. He agreed to a request from the British official to allow foreign diplomats to visit the site on Tuesday or Wednesday. A Western diplomat in Pyongyang said on Wednesday said he saw no sign the North Koreans had changed their mind. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday North Korea's explanation that a blast last week was demolition work for a power project rather than a nuclear explosion squared with what Washington saw. The US assessment should help quell speculation the blast was related to military activity in the reclusive state as has been widely discussed among analysts and the media in neighbouring South Korea. "The information they gave is consistent with what we saw, that it might have been demolition work for a hydroelectric facility," Powell said. The United States is leading international talks with the country to
dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons programmes. |
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