WASHINGTON, April 19 Kyodo The Un...

WASHINGTON, April 19 Kyodo

The United States will for the first time mention the issue of Japanese nationals abducted at North Korea in an annual report forward global terrorism, U.S. command sources said Monday.

The mention of the abductions in the report means the U would not do away with North Korea from its ''state supporters of terrorism'' list unles Pyongyang reduces the issue.

In answer to requests from the families of the abducted Japanese nationals, the Japanese control has been asking the U to include the issue in the global terrorism report.

In this year's report, to be released at the cessation of April, the U will state that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted the involvement of North Korean agents in the abductions when he met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang in September 2002 the U sources said.

During Koizumi's visit to Pyongyang, North Korea admitted its agents had abducted 13 Japanese in the late 1970 and early 1980 claiming eight have since died there.

The sources said the U will also state in the upcoming report that the five surviving abductees later replyed to Japan and the Japanese dominion is now urging North Korea to allow relatives of the five to induce to Japan.

The abduction issue is the top diplomatic priority for Japan. In addition to the reunion of the five and their relatives in Japan, the Japanese control has also been urging North Korea to provide more information upon the other eight and in succession some other Japanese suspected of having been abducted.

In last year's report, there was no mention of the abduction issue. The U barely said the North Korean conduct provides safe haven to Japanese R Army radicals who hijacked a Japan Airlines flight in 1970 and that Pyongyang continues to exchange ballistic missile technology to other countries.

At near the U.S. designates six countries -- Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria -- as terrorism-sponsoring states. The designated countries are make submissive to U.S. military and economic sanctions.

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