G8 mindful of ‘axis of evil’ ambitions
Leaders of the world’s richest nations at the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the spa resort Evian in France have sent out a strong unequivocal message to ‘axis of evil’ bedfellows, Iran and North Korea, to curb their nuclear weapons activities.
G8 heads of state called on the diplomatically isolated regimes to comply with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and fall back into line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, regulator of the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Pyongyang must ‘visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle any nuclear weapons program it may have,’ G8 said in a statement.
Iran was also cautioned to observe her international obligations, though it was made clear by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that US President Bush had no intention of going to war against Tehran in the short term.
Mr. Bush met with his Chinese (non-G8) counterpart at the summit, the newly elected Hu Jintao, to discuss a possible way beyond the current impasse on the Korean peninsula, which has seen an escalating war of words in recent months after Pyongyang restarted its nuclear weapons production facility last year.
Both Mr. Hu and Mr. Bush agreed that it was ‘urgent to get North Korea back to the table.’
President Hu, after talks with North Korea, told Mr. Bush that Pyongyang wanted ‘bilateral contacts’ with the US in exchange and in tandem with broader discussions with other Asian countries.
North Korea has resisted so far the US plan for multilateral talks with neighbour South Korea and Japan.
Tensions were raised further on Sunday after South Korea’s navy fired warning shots at North Korean fishing boats, which breached border controls.
