NKorea to expel UN nuclear inspectors

SKOREA: North Korea has ordered UN inspectors to leave the country, apparently following through on a decision to restart its nuclear weapons programme despite US criticism.

North korea announced Tuesday it would never take part gain in six-nation nuclear disarmament talks and would restore the plants at Yongbyon which produced weapons-grade plutonium.

It was responding angrily to a UN Security Council statement Monday which condemned the North's April 5 rocket launch and vowed tougher enforcement of existing missile-related sanctions.

Hours after the North's announcement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its inspectors had been ordered out. North Korea "informed IAEA inspectors in the Yongbyon facility that it is immediately ceasing all cooperation with the IAEA," Marc Vidricaire, spokesman for the UN nuclear watchdog, told reporters.

"It has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility.

The inspectors have also been asked to leave the DPRK at the earliest possible time."

They were overseeing the disabling of the Yongbyon plants as part of a February 2007 six-nation deal which the North says it will no longer observe.

Seoul, Wednesday, AFP