US-N Korea war 'entirely possible'

news24.com
03/04/2003 20:30 - (SA)

London - War between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons is "entirely possible", UN special envoy Maurice Strong warned on Thursday.

Paying a visit to London, Strong predicted that a UN Security Council meeting next Wednesday to discuss North Korea's quest for nuclear arms would be "very controversial".

Quizzed on the danger of a US-led war on North Korea similar to the one now underway in Iraq, Strong replied: "I think a war is unnecessary. It's unthinkable, its consequences. And yet, it is entirely possible."

He said UN sanctions, if adopted at next week's meeting, would be seen in Pyongyang as "an act of war".

Strong, a former Canadian government minister who is special adviser to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, was in London for talks with Clare Short, the British secretary for international aid and development.

Strong has twice visited Pyongyang since October amidst a growing crisis as North Korea expelled UN nuclear inspectors, restarted a mothballed nuclear reactor, withdrew from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and test-launched ballistic missiles. - Sapa-AFP