Chief US negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill said
in Beijing Tuesday that the United States has approved the revised
draft agreement.
"We've approved it," Hill said on early morning, adding that he
had talked to the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "many
times" last night, and Rice is "very much followed the details of
the process".
Host China called a meeting of top negotiators from North Korea,
the US, Japan and Russia at 10:30 AM.
Asked if he hopes North Korea will come back with a good answer
on the draft presented by host China, Hill said, "I hope so."
An agreement on the first step toward the denuclearization of
North Korea may come out on Tuesday as negotiations dragged into
the sixth day.
The draft, circulated last Thursday, reportedly proposes halting
within two months the work at nuclear sites in North Korea,
including the Yongbyon reactor, and supplying Pyongyang with
alternative energy sources.
The current phase of six-nation talks began on a promising note
after North Korea and the United States showed a compromise in a
landmark meeting in Berlin in January.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2007)
