The six-party talks would go into recess, a diplomatic source
close to the talks said Thursday afternoon, asking not to reveal
his name and delegation.
The six parties will meet around 5 PM and announce recess of the
meeting, the source said.
It is also reported that chief Russian envoy Alexander Losyukov
and chief North Korean envoy would leave Beijing Thursday
afternoon.
The talks have been blocked since Tuesday as the North Korean
delegation refused to attend the talks until its frozen funds at a
Macao bank is fully transferred.
Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters Thursday
morning when leaving hotel for a bilateral meeting with his Chinese
counterpart Wu Dawei that the "paperwork" related to the transfer
of the North Korean bank account had "made some progress," but he
gave no further details.
The new round of six-party talks is supposed to end Wednesday.
However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday evening that
the talks would be extended amid the stalemate over the frozen
funds of North Korea at a Macao bank.
"As far as I know, the Bank of China refuses to accept the
transfer of the frozen funds from the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia
(BDA)," Russian representative Losyukov said at his hotel.
The US said Monday it had resolved a dispute with North Korea
over roughly US$25 million at BDA after having agreed to a North
Korean proposal to transfer the money to its account in
Beijing.
The sixth round of nuclear talks is aimed at discussing specific
steps in the initial phase of the February 13 deal, which says
North Korea shall shut down its nuclear facilities while the other
parties shall provide emergency energy assistance to it and the
shipment will commence within the next 60 days.?
(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2007)
