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N Korea 'agrees to disarmament' North Korea agrees to disarmament
(10 minutes later)
North Korea has agreed to take the first steps towards nuclear disarmament in return for fuel aid. North Korea has agreed to take the first steps towards nuclear disarmament as part of a deal reached during lengthy talks in Beijing.
Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said an important consensus had been reached at the end of six-party talks in Beijing. Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said Pyongyang had agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid.
He said Pyongyang had agreed to close its Yongbyon reactor in return for 50,000 metric tons of fuel aid. The US and Japan have also agreed to begin talks with North Korea on building closer ties, he said.
Under the deal, North Korea will eventually receive another one million tonnes of fuel oil when it permanently disables its nuclear operations. The six-party talks carried on late into Monday night, to try and hammer out the final details of the deal.
The latest round of talks - involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia - have been running since Thursday. Delegates from the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia have been meeting in Beijing since Thursday.
Delegates worked late into Monday night to hammer out the final details of the deal. 'Important concensus'
Mr Wu said an important consensus had been reached at the end of the negotiations.
He said Pyongyang had agreed to close its Yongbyon reactor within 60 days, in return for 50,000 metric tons of fuel aid or economic aid of equal value.
N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weaponsBut not thought to have any small enough to put in a missileCould try dropping from plane, though world watching closely Text of September 2005 deal
The North will eventually receive another one million tonnes of fuel oil or an equivalent when it permanently disables its nuclear operations, he said.
Mr Wu said the US had agreed to begin the process of removing North Korea from its list of terror states and establish diplomatic relations.
Japan would also discuss normalising relations with the North.
Before the deal had even been signed, some officials in Washington were voicing scepticism.
North Korea made a similar deal in the 1990s, which fell apart when it became known that Pyongyang was continuing to pursue a nuclear programme.