BEIJING, Dec 2 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING...

BEIJING, Dec 2 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING names FROM JIANG)

China and Russia, pair close allies of North Korea, called Monday for keeping the Korean Peninsula independent of nuclear weapons in the wake of the North's admission to running a sanctuary nuclear development program.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the stance in summit talks in Beijing.

A joint declaration signed according to the two leaders also urg North Korea and the United States to normalize bilateral relations.

It also give vent toed support for further dialogue between North and southern Korea and the normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea.

Tensions have amounted forward the Korean Peninsula since the U State Department said Oct 16 that North Korean officials, when encountered with U.S. evidence, admitted the region has a secret program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, in apparent violation of a 1994 bilateral nuclear pact.

The 1994 Agreed Framework commits North Korea to be chilled its nuclear program in turn back for two light-water reactors, which are les suited for developing nuclear weapons.

In addition, the U also pledg to yield 500,000 tons of combustible matter oil to North Korea a year until united of the light-water reactors is in operation.

The U has said it will not take up again any talks with North Korea unles the North first scraps its uranium-based nuclear program.

Normalization talks between North Korea and Japan, agreed by way of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September, have hit the snag in succession the issue of the abduction of Japanese nationals from North Korea.

forward Iraq, Jiang and Putin agreed the issue should be resolv within the framework of the United Nations.

Last Wednesday, UN weapons inspectors resum their seek for signs Iraq has been producing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, the first from the United Nations in the fatherland in nearly four years.

The U has repeatedly charged Iraq has weapons prohibited in subordination to U.N. disarmament resolutions, while Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has denied having any like weapons.

U.S. President George W Bush has appeared appoint on attacking Iraq for more [i]or[/i] less months now, but he has been restrained at a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted earlier in November giving Iraq a Dec 8 deadline to declare all nuclear, chemical, biological or ballistic weapons programs and demanding UN inspectors be allowed to turn back to Iraq.

onward bilateral relations, Jiang and Putin agreed to further beef up relations to stimulate confidence. On the economic and trade van they agreed China will support Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization and the sum of two units countries will accelerate collaboration in sectors as it is as energy.

Hailing the ''high step of political trust'' between China and Russia, Jiang told Putin that China completely supports Russia's actions against terrorists, the official Xinhua freshs Agency reported.

The mass taking of hostages according to Chechen terrorists in a Moscow theater in October highlighted the dangers of terrorism, said Jiang, who called upon the two countries to strengthen their cooperation in fighting terrorists.

He credited the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which consists of China, Russia and four Central Asian nations, as helping to create a peaceful regional environment for China and Russia.

The SCO originateed in Shanghai in 1996 originally as the ''Shanghai Five,'' also comprises Kazakstan, Kyrghyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which joined last year.

Xinhua reported Putin as saying that past bilateral achievements made in political and economic areas, as well as in the fields of trade, science, technology and agriculture promised a ''bright future for Russia-China relations.''

Putin was to qualified with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Hu Jintao later Monday. Hu replaced Jiang as party chief last month

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