Norks have not accounted for all centrifuges

Washington Times:

North Korea is still balking at disclosing all of its nuclear materials and capabilities in a declaration expected by year's end, the chief U.S. negotiator with the reclusive state said yesterday.

The envoy, Christopher Hill, said after completing a three-day visit that the North Koreans were "pretty close to providing a declaration," and "we have had a very useful exchange on the subject."

But problems remain even after Mr. Hill discussed the list of nuclear activities in a rare meeting with Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun on Tuesday.

"There are definitely some differences," Mr. Hill told reporters after his return to Beijing. "As we discussed the declaration, as we discussed materials, installations and programs, we found that items in each of these three lists were not there that, in our view, should be there."

The Washington Times reported last week that the North Koreans were refusing to account for centrifuges the United States says they purchased from Pakistan in the 1990s, presumably for use in a uranium-enrichment program.

U.S. officials are concerned that the centrifuges may have ended up in a third country, possibly Syria, where Israel bombed what it described as a nuclear-related facility in September.

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There is good reason to suspect Syria may have received the missing centrifuges. It is possible that some may have been transferred to Iran which has been bragging about the number it has. We need to keep the heat on to get the accounting. If they were transferred to Iran, that could effect the new NIE.