U.S. Misled Allies About Nuclear Export

By Dafna Linzer, Washington Post Staff Writer

In an effort to increase pressure on North Korea, the Bush
administration told its Asian allies in briefings earlier this year
that Pyongyang had exported nuclear material to Libya. That was a
significant new charge, the first allegation that North Korea was
helping to create a new nuclear weapons state.

But that is not what U.S. intelligence reported, according to two
officials with detailed knowledge of the transaction. North Korea,
according to the intelligence, had supplied uranium hexafluoride --
which can be enriched to weapons-grade uranium -- to Pakistan. It was
Pakistan, a key U.S. ally with its own nuclear arsenal, that sold the
material to Libya. The U.S. government had no evidence, the officials
said, that North Korea knew of the second transaction.

Pakistan's role as both the buyer and the seller was concealed to
cover up the part played by Washington's partner in the hunt for al
Qaeda leaders, according to the officials, who discussed the issue 
on the condition of anonymity. In addition, a North Korea-Pakistan
transfer would not have been news to the U.S. allies, which have 
known of such transfers for years and viewed them as a business 
matter between sovereign states.

The Bush administration's approach, intended to isolate North Korea,
instead left allies increasingly doubtful as they began to learn that
the briefings omitted essential details about the transaction, U.S.
officials and foreign diplomats said in interviews. North Korea
responded to public reports last month about the briefings by
withdrawing from talks with its neighbors and the United States.

In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
is traveling through East Asia this weekend trying to get the six-
nation talks back on track. The impasse was expected to dominate talks
today in Seoul and then Beijing, which wields the greatest influence
with North Korea.

(snip)

Copyright (c) 2005 The Washington Post Company

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Cheers, Steve..

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