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G8 warns Iran, North Korea and Sudan
AFP/POOL/Peter Kneffel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (front R) presides over a working session of the leaders G8, the five top developing and African nations on the last day of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, northeastern Germany.By Guy Jackson
AFP
HEILIGENDAMM, Germany
Petroleumworld.com 06 11 07The Group of Eight powers on Friday threatened Iran with fresh action over its nuclear ambitions and urged North Korea to immediately dismantle its atomic bombs.
The world's industrial powers also called for "the perpetrators of atrocities" in Darfur to be dealt with and said it would back UN moves against the Sudanese government and rebel groups if the conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives is not ended.
Discussions about the future status of Kosovo ended in deadlock, according to Germany which hosted the three-day summit on the Baltic Sea coast.
The G8 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States -- said in a final declaration it "deplored" Iran's failure to comply with UN Security Council demands that it end uranium enrichment.
It said it would support "adopting further measures" unless the Islamic republic fulfilled its obligations.
" We again urge Iran to take the steps required by the international community, and made mandatory by these resolutions, to suspend all its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, and allow negotiations to begin," the final communique said.
The G8 leaders urged North Korea -- which shocked the world by testing a nuclear weapon last year -- to cease all of its atomic programmes.
It called on Pyongyang "strictly to refrain" from any new nuclear test or missile launch and to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes "in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."
North Korea should "return to full compliance" with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the UN nuclear watchdog's safeguards and implement UN Security Council resolutions.
Senior military officers from North and South Korea held talks on Friday aimed at easing tensions, one day after the North test-fired two missiles.
The impoverished Stalinist state has refused to start shutting down its last working nuclear reactor under a February 13 accord.
The conflict in Darfur played a prominent role in summit discussions and US President George W. Bush led calls for a tough line over the war in Sudan's western region.
" We are deeply concerned about the tragic security and humanitarian situation in Darfur," said the final declaration, deploring the bombings carried out by Sudanese government forces in northern Darfur in April and May, as well as attacks by rebel factions on African Union troops."Those violating the human rights of civilians in Darfur must be held responsible and we will support efforts to bring the perpetrators of atrocities to justice," the declaration said.
The G8 called on the Sudanese government and opposition groups to allow unhindered access for humanitarian organisations so they can deal with the refugee crisis, and backed the proposed UN-AU force for Sudan.
International pressure is mounting on Sudan to allow the deployment of the UN force to bolster African Union troops -- and the G8 countries urged Khartoum to back the force.
" The conflict in Darfur threatens peace and security in the wider region, the statement said, citing the deteriorating humanitarian situation in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic.
A proposal by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy to resolve a dispute over Kosovo failed to make headway, with the G8 declaring there "continue to be different views on substance and on the way forward," the German presidency said.
Sarkozy had proposed a six-month period of reflection to allow all sides to consider a UN proposal to grant the majority ethnic Albanian province supervised independence from Serbia.
Russia is strongly opposed to the UN proposal and has threatened to veto it.
AFP 08 1448 GMT 06 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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