N Korea agrees to nuclear disarmamen

BEIJING, Feb 13 (Reuters) North Korea agreed to take steps towards nuclear disarmament under a groundbreaking deal struck today that will bring the impoverished communist state more than 300 million dollars worth of aid.

Under the agreement, which was reached by six countries in Beijing after nearly a week of talks, Pyongyang will freeze the reactor at the heart of its nuclear programme and allow international inspections of the site.

''This progress marks another firm and important step towards the denuclearisation of the peninsula,'' China's chief delegate, Wu Dawei, told the closing session of the talks, which was carried live on television from the heavily guarded Diaoyutai state guesthouse.

''It is favourable for the peace process in northeast Asia and for the improvement of ties between relevant countries,'' he said, after which delegates rose hesitatingly to their feet in restrained applause.

The proposed plan hammered out by the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia, and China will only be the first step in locating and dismantling North Korea's nuclear arms activities, leaving many crucial questions to future negotiations.

''This is only one phase of denuclearisation. We're not done,'' chief US negotiator Christopher Hill said.

As details of the draft leaked out earlier, Japan was already voicing doubt that any agreement could be made to stick, and a prominent US conservative decried it as a ''very bad deal''.

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, said the Communist state should not be rewarded with ''massive shipments of heavy fuel oil'' for only partially dismantling its nuclear programme.

''It sends exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world,'' he told CNN.

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