US: Unofficial talks in Santa Fe, New Mexico, between two North Korean diplomats and Democratic governor Mr Bill Richardson last night offered the only slim hope of defusing a dangerous international crisis over the sudden withdrawal by North Korea from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The close involvement of the US State Department in the Santa Fe talks was made clear last night when Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said he had given permission to the diplomats from the People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK) to travel there and that Mr Richardson had briefed him regularly throughout yesterday on what the DPRK officials were saying.
The two North Koreans, Mr Mun Jong Chol and Mr Han Song Ryol, had a two-hour dinner with Mr Richardson followed by a day of talks, and are expected to continue discussions at the governor's mansion today.
"I want to be able to help my country," said Mr Richardson, who visited North Korea on two diplomatic missions while a member of Congress during the 1990s.
Asked at a picture-taking session to assess the talks, he replied: "I'm not an official negotiator, but they're going well."
Mr Powell said that North Korea had "thumbed its nose at the international community" by its shock withdrawal from the nuclear treaty, which was "very regrettable", but said "we will continue to work for a peaceful solution".
He repeated that the US was only willing to discuss with Pyongyang how it can dismantle its nuclear programmes and would "not enter into any kind of talks or dialogue where North Korea is given any impression that they have any choice but to come into compliance with their obligations".
President Bush spoke for 17 minutes yesterday morning with Chinese leader Mr Jiang Zemin after North Korea announced its withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty on Thursday evening and warned of a "third world war" if the US took military action.
The two Presidents agreed "to continue to work together to help ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," said White House spokesman Mr Ari Fleischer.
Pyongyang's move was condemned around the world. China, North Korea's closest ally, said it "disagreed" with the DPRK decision. South Korean President Mr Kim Dae-Jung said the crisis had now lurched "from bad to worse".
North Korean ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Pak Gil Yon, called a rare news conference at the UN yesterday and warned the Security Council that any decision to impose sanctions on the DPRK for its actions would be seen as "a declaration of war" in Pyongyang.
He pointedly refused to deny that North Korea already had one or two nuclear weapons and accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which yesterday condemned North Korea's move, as a "tool for erecting the US hostile policy towards the DPRK".
Nevertheless Mr Pak, speaking in English, emphasised that "nuclear activities will be confined at this moment to generating electricity" and that "any problem could be resolved pacifically by negotiation" with the US.
IAEA chief Mr Mohamed ElBaradei said last night after meeting Mr Powell in Washington that a Security Council meeting on the crisis would take place "in a matter of weeks if we do not see signs of co-operation".
The North Korean government "have first to show that they are willing to sit and talk and negotiate without the threat of nuclear brinkmanship".
Some 188 nations belong to the non-proliferation treaty from which India and Pakistan withdrew when they acquired nuclear weapons three years ago.
US intelligence officials said they had not detected any unusual military activity inside the DPRK, which has an army of 1.1 million facing off against the South Korean force of 686,000 and 37,140 American troops.
The Bush administration contends North Korea carried out a secret nuclear weapons programme in violation of agreements made in the 1990s and last year Mr Bush designated North Korea as part of an "axis of evil".
The crisis deepened last month when North Korea cut seals on a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, removed UN monitoring cameras and expelled two IAEA inspectors.
AFP adds: The board of governors of the IAEA will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday over North Korea, a Western diplomat said yesterday.
The New York office of the Vienna-based IAEA said it could not confirm the date.
"We have not had official confirmation," a spokeswoman said.