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US refuses to comment on
Pak-N Korea nuclear tie-up

During his daily briefing in Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher refused to confirm or deny a story in the New York Times quoting US officials to that effect.

Boucher refused to answer any question relating to the topic.

He gave a similar response when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that the Stalinist state, part of US President George W Bush's axis of evil, got enriched uranium for nuclear bombs from Russia.

Bush had earlier branded North Korea as part of an 'axis of evil' along with Iran and Iraq.

Pakistan has termed the charges as baseless. "Pakistan's commitments, affirmed at the highest level, that it would not export any sensitive technologies to third countries remains unquestionable," a foreign office statement said in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, a day after North Korea sent shock waves across the globe by admitted to having a nuclear weapons programme, Bush faces a new foreign policy crisis with his administration already embroiled in an anti-terror battle and preparations for war with Iraq.

Senior US officials worry that a confrontation with North Korea at a time when the Bush administration is pursuing plans to disarm Iraq could destabilise Asia, The Washington Post said in a report on Friday.

"The president (George W Bush) believes this is troubling and sobering," spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"We are addressing this (latest crisis) through diplomatic channels. We continue to seek a peaceful resolution," the daily quoted him as saying.

The US is believed to have got scent of Pyongyang's plans when its intelligence agencies discovered that North Korea was trying to acquire large amounts of high-strength aluminium, which is used in equipment to enrich uranium for a bomb.

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