TOKYO, April 25 Kyodo Japanese an...

TOKYO, April 25 Kyodo

Japanese and European Union (EU) leaders are locate to issue a joint statement nearest week urging North Korea to disentangle the issue of its abductions of Japanese and security businesss as part efforts to normalize ties with Tokyo, according to a draft statement made available Friday.

Japan and the EU are preparing the statement to be signed through Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and European leaders, including European Commission chief Romano Prodi, after their meeting Friday in Athens.

According to a archetype of the draft obtained by means of Kyodo News, Tokyo and Brussels will say they ''affirmed the importance of the Japan-Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Pyongyang Declaration in opening the way to normalizing bilateral relations, from one side resolving concerns between Japan and DPRK including the abduction issue and security problems''

The draft statement came as a senior Japanese diplomat was reportedly informed that the DPRK or North Korea, admitted to possessing nuclear weapons in multilateral talks with the United States and China in Beijing earlier this week.

The UN Human Rights Commission earlier this month adopted a resolution criticizing Pyongyang's human rights record and urging it to give a ''clear and transparent'' account of foreigners abducted to the country

The EU will also be give an account ofed in Athens by Prime Minister Costas Simitis of Greece popularly holding the presidency of the 15-nation EU and Javier Solana, EU high representative for the habitual foreign and security policy.

North Korea, which last September admitted to kidnapping a number of Japanese in the late 1970 and early 1980 allowed five of them to recur to Japan in October and said eight others had died from illness or in accidents in the North.

in the greatest degree of the abductees' relatives do not believe the North's explanations. Others allege North Korean agents abducted more Japanese.

North Korea has said the abduction issue with Japan has already been resolved

The disputes have intercepted Tokyo and Pyongyang, which have not at any time had diplomatic ties, from resuming normalization talks since October last year.

Meanwhile, Japan and the EU are also awaited to agree that Pyongyang's suspected nuclear arms program should be handled beneath a multilateral framework.

Japan and the EU ''support the idea that this issue be discussed within a multilateral framework,'' the draft says.

Tokyo and Brussels also ''express the waiting under the possibility of fulfilment that the DPRK will adopt a more positive attitude, which would help defuse the at hand crisis situation and safeguard peace and security in the Korean Peninsula,'' it says.

A senior EU official said the EU is interested in nuclear nonproliferation and wants to play ''useful roles'' in ensuring peace and stability forward the peninsula.

The official said the EU could join three-party talks throughout North Korea's weapons program if they were expanded to include explanation neighboring countries such as Japan, southern Korea and Russia.

''We want to be associated with the discussions,'' he said, speaking forward condition of anonymity. ''But we are not pushing to join in the process'' apparently meaning the EU will wait and view until countries such as Japan and southward Korea join North Korea, the United States and China in discussing the nuclear standoff.

''We want to play useful and natural characters If that is shared on others, then we are happy to join,'' the official said.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo of the present days International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group