＜米公聴会＞北朝鮮核拡散へ疑念相次ぐ ヒル氏真偽に触れず

　【ワシントン笠原敏彦】米下院外交委員会のアジア・太平洋小委員会などによる合同公聴会が２５日、北朝鮮核問題をテーマに開かれ、証人のヒル国務次官補に対し、超党派の議員から北朝鮮のシリアへの核開発協力疑惑など核拡散への強い疑念が噴出した。ヒル次官補は北朝鮮との協議で同疑惑を取り上げたことは認めたが、一貫して疑惑の真偽に関する回答を避け、「いかなる合意も拡散問題に目をつぶっては受け入れない」との基本姿勢を示すにとどまった。

　ダン・バートン議員（共和）は、クリントン前政権時代に米朝枠組み合意（９４年）を結びながら高濃縮ウラン開発を続けた北朝鮮に対し強い疑念を表明。「北朝鮮がシリアに核技術を渡した紛れもない可能性がある。中東は火薬庫であり、事態に適切に対処しなければ悲劇につながる」と語り、北朝鮮へのエネルギー支援などの予算措置を認めるには真実を知る必要がある、と訴えた。

　また、シリアがテロ支援国家に指定されていることなどから、北朝鮮のテロ支援国家指定解除問題と絡めて核協力疑惑を追及する場面も目立った。デービッド・スコット議員（民主）は、北朝鮮がレバノンのイスラム教シーア派民兵組織「ヒズボラ」を支援しているとの疑惑に触れ、「北朝鮮はヒズボラに武器を供給し、訓練を行ったのか」とただした。

　ヒル次官補はこの質問には「非難を裏付ける確かな情報は知らない」と答えたが、核協力疑惑では「機密情報を論議する立場にはない」と回答を避け続けた。

　一方、ヒル次官補は６カ国協議合意に基づく北朝鮮の核計画の完全な申告について、今後２週間以内に北朝鮮がそのリストを提出するとの見通しを示した。

　また核施設の無能力化で年内を期限とするのは寧辺（ニョンビョン）の黒鉛減速炉など３施設にとどまるが、その後も「すべての核施設」の無能力化作業を続けることで各国が合意している、と明かした。

＜米公聴会＞北朝鮮核拡散へ疑念相次ぐ　ヒル氏真偽に触れず（毎日新聞） - Yahoo!ニュース

Hoekstra, Ros-Lehtinen: Reveal Syria Attack Info

News Max ^ | October 22, 2007 | News Max Staff

Posted on 10/23/2007 2:29:22 AM PDT by yoe

Two influential Republican members of the U.S. House have castigated the Bush administration for failing to brief Congress on Israeli bombing of a suspected nuclear facility in Syria last month.

In an op-ed piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, senior GOP member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the senior Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote:

“[The Bush administration] has thrown an unprecedented veil of secrecy around the Israeli air strike. It has briefed only a handful of very senior members of Congress, leaving the vast majority of foreign relations and intelligence committee members in the dark.

“We are among the very few who were briefed, but we have been sworn to secrecy on this matter. However, we are prepared to state, based on what we have learned, that it is critical for every member of Congress to be briefed on this incident, and as soon as possible.

“We are concerned that, although the Bush administration refuses to discuss the Israeli air strike with the American people or with the majority of Congress, it has not hesitated to give information on background to the press to shape this story to its liking…

“We want to remind President Bush that the Constitution invests Congress with various powers and authority over foreign policy.”

Referring to a recent agreement under which North Korea would disable its nuclear facilities in return for oil shipments – and to reports that Pyongyang was linked to the nuclear facility in Syria – the two members of Congress stated:

“The proposed deals with North Korea will involve substantial expenditures of U.S. funds to pay for heavy fuel oil deliveries. Congress will be asked to approve the authorization of funds for this expenditure. We cannot carry out our duties when we are being denied information about these critical national security matters…

“We regret that the administration has ignored numerous letters from Congress asking that all members be briefed on the Israeli air strike. Failing to disclose the details of this incident to the legislative branch, preventing due diligence and oversight -- but talking to the press about it -- is not the way to win support for complex and difficult diplomatic efforts to combat proliferation by rogue nations.”

The day after the op-ed piece was published, Hoekstra and Rep. Jane Harman of California – who chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence – appeared on CNN’s “Late Edition” with Wolf Blitzer.

Hoekstra reiterated his call for the Bush administration to divulge to Congress details about the Israeli strike and the alleged Syrian-North Korean program.

But when asked if she had been briefed, Harman said: “I know what I know from the public media.”

Blitzer said: “But you're the chair of this important intelligence subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee. Have they briefed you?”

Harman answered: “No, they have not briefed me on what went on in northern Syria … I've had some conversations with Peter, but he's not free to reveal classified information even to me, although I have the clearances. That's just how the thing works.”

Asked by Blitzer if the reported North Korean link to the Syrian facility “raises alarm bells” for him, Hoekstra replied:

“Absolutely. I mean what we've found through the '90s and what we have found through the Bush administration is that the North Koreans, they'll always make deal, but the other thing that we'll see consistently is that they will break those agreements.”

Hoekstra, Ros-Lehtinen: Reveal Syria Attack Info

Envoy Warns of N. Korea Deal Fallout

Ambassador to Japan Cables Bush to Outline Concerns Over Relations With Tokyo

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007; Page A08

J. Thomas Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, sent President Bush an unusual private cable this week warning that the pending nuclear deal with North Korea could harm relations with Japan. He also complained that the U.S. Embassy had been left in the dark while the deal -- which could include North Korea's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism -- was negotiated by top State Department officials.

Schieffer's cable was described by sources who had read it. Both Schieffer and the White House acknowledged the existence of the cable, which was numbered Tokyo 004947, but they declined to discuss it in detail.

"Communications between myself and the President are privileged," Schieffer said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday night. "I never discuss them with others."

Schieffer's cable appears to be another sign of the unease in some parts of the administration over the North Korea agreement, which sets out a step-by-step process of disabling and accounting for North Korean nuclear programs, in exchange for incentives and economic assistance from the United States and North Korea's neighbors. Pyongyang has long sought removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, but Japan has insisted that North Korea first provide details on the abductions of Japanese citizens by the reclusive nation during the 1970s and '80s.

Ambassadors generally do not send diplomatic cables directly to the president, but Schieffer has unusual status as a longtime friend of Bush's. He was an investor in the partnership that -- along with Bush -- purchased the Texas Rangers baseball team in 1989. He is also the brother of CBS broadcaster Bob Schieffer.

J. Thomas Schieffer was ambassador to Australia in Bush's first term and then was given the high-profile post of Tokyo envoy in the second term.

The North Korea deal has come under attack from conservatives, especially Republicans on Capitol Hill, but Schieffer is a Democrat who served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made the six-nation accord one of her top priorities, having persuaded the president to put the agreement on a fast track earlier this year.

In his cable, sources said, Schieffer stressed that he does not believe that Japanese interests should dictate U.S. policy toward North Korea. But he warned the president that rumors were flying in Tokyo that the talks on removing North Korea from the terror list were progressing rapidly, which he suggested could potentially harm U.S. relations with its closest ally in the Pacific. He noted that Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill had assured him that North Korea needed to first show substantial progress on the abduction issue before any action was taken, but Schieffer said he was seeking direction and clarification in part because the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo appeared cut out of the process.

"Ambassador Schieffer was clarifying what he sees on the ground and that the abduction issue was something we need to continue to emphasize in the six-party talks," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

The new Japanese prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, will visit Washington in the coming weeks, Johndroe added. During that meeting, "President Bush will reiterate our commitment to help Japanese efforts to resolve the abduction issue with North Korea," he said.

Envoy Warns of N. Korea Deal Fallout - washingtonpost.com


参考
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kitaryunosuke/e/01f41de31b4cf5c36661a967dae855e0