Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) leaders have backed down from an attempt to put pressure o­n fellow-member North Korea to drop its nuclear weapons programme, officials said today.

A resolution to be presented at a summit meeting here says the leaders simply "noted the withdrawal of the DPRK (North Korea) from the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)", according to a final draft obtained by AFP .

An earlier draft "underlined the importance of the DPRK's participation in the NPT", but those words have been dropped following objections by North Korea.

The result is a compromise, as Pyongyang had orginally wanted a resolution blaming the United States for the crisis o­n the Korean Peninsula, and when that was immediately rejected, tried unsuccessfully to insert a phrase about ensuring North Korea's security.

The resolution goes o­n to call o­n "the parties directly concerned (to) resolve, through dialogue and negotiations, all issues related to the withdrawal of the DPRK from the NPT as an expression of their goodwill."

This appears to be another minor victory for Pyongyang, which has long rejected international involvement in what it considers a dispute between it and the United States alone.

NAM does, however, express "serious concern over the recent developments o­n the Korean Peninsula" and calls "upon all parties concerned to do everything possible to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully."

Friendly venues

Pyongyang had looked to its membership in NAM, which consists mainly of developing countries, as o­ne of the few friendly global venues open to it, but Seoul and Washington, attending the summit as observers, mounted a strong lobby against the North Korean position.

Washington is demanding that North Korea renounce its nuclear weapons ambitions before it will agree to negotiate with Pyongyang, which insists o­n a non-aggression pact and direct talks first.

The nuclear standoff o­n the Korean peninsula erupted in October after the US accused North Korea of running a secret uranium-enrichment program and later cut off fuel aid to the energy-starved regime.

Pyongyang responded by expelling UN inspectors, pulling out of the NPT and reactivating a mothballed plant capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

The UN Security Council has received and deferred action o­n the case, which could include an array of sanctions that North Korea has warned would be considered tantamount to a declaration of war.

The incoming NAM chairman, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said Sunday the West's relatively softer line over North Korea compared to its threat to invade Iraq proved that Muslims were being targeted rather than weapons of mass destruction.

Both countries are members of NAM, which consists mainly of developing countries and was conceived as an alternative to the Eastern and Western blocs during the Cold War. AFP