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Only an idiot will trust North Korea, says Rice
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview released on Friday that only an "idiot" would trust North Korea, which is why the US is insisting on a way to check its nuclear claims.
- Reuters
- Published: 22:40 December 20, 2008
Washington: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview released on Friday that only an "idiot" would trust North Korea, which is why the US is insisting on a way to check its nuclear claims.
A 2005 multilateral deal under which Pyongyang would abandon its nuclear programmes has become snagged on Pyongyang's refusal to spell out a protocol on how to verify its disclosures about its nuclear programmes.
The sticking point appears to be North Korea's reluctance to allow inspectors to take samples to test a declaration of its atomic programme that it submitted this year as part of the aid for disarmament agreement.
US President George W. Bush had hoped an agreement on verification with North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, would have opened the way to dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear arms capacity.
Speaking to a group of foreign policy experts and students on Wednesday, Rice rejected criticism from US conservatives who believe the Bush administration has been too trusting of Pyongyang in recent years. "Nobody was trusting of the North Koreans. I mean, who trusts the North Koreans? You'd have to be an idiot to trust the North Koreans," she said in the appearance at the Council of Foreign Relations think tank, prompting laughter.
"That's why we have a verification protocol that we are negotiating," she added.
Mauritania: US to end trade benefits
The US will eliminate trade benefits for Mauritania in response to a military coup in August that toppled a democratically elected president, the White House said on Friday.
"I have decided to terminate the designation of Mauritania as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country ... effective on January 1, 2009," President George W. Bush said in a proclamation.
Many sub-Saharan African countries are eligible under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act to export goods to the US without paying duties.
Congress approved the programme in May 2000 in a bid to spur economic growth in one of the world's poorest regions.
Do you think such a statement is appropriate coming from a Secretary of State? Do such statements further deteriorate relations between countries? Or has North Korea not been transparent enough to gain the trust of the international community?
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