US misled allies on N Korea N-transfer

In addition, a North Korea-Pakistan transfer would not have been news to the US allies, which have known of such transfers for years and viewed them as a business matter between sovereign states. The Bush administration’s approach, intended to isolate North Korea, instead left allies increasingly doubtful as they began to learn that the briefings omitted essential details about the transaction, US officials and foreign diplomats said .

North Korea responded to public reports last month about the briefings by withdrawing from talks with its neighbors and the US. In an effort to repair the damage, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling through East Asia this weekend trying to get the six-nation talks back on track.

The details follow a string of controversies concerning the Bush administration’s use of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, especially in the run up to the Iraq war.

The US briefed allies on North Korea in late January and early February. Shortly afterward, administration officials, speaking to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea had sold uranium hexafluoride to Libya and portrayed the briefings as part of regular discussions with China, South Korea and Japan ahead of a new round of hoped-for negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear programme.

But in recent days, two other US officials said the briefings were hastily arranged after China and South Korea indicated they were considering bolting from the six-party talks.