North Korea may have aided Hezbollah, LTTE - U.S. report

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea may have given arms to Lebanon's Hezbollah and Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, according to a report compiled for Congress that could complicate U.S. plans to drop Pyongyang from its terrorism blacklist.

The report obtained on Wednesday by Reuters was written by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which provides independent analysis to Congress, and cited "reputable sources" as saying Pyongyang had given arms and possibly training to the militant groups, which Washington regards as "terrorist" organizations.

As part of a deal to get Pyongyang to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, Washington has dangled the possibility of removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism if it fully discloses its nuclear programs.

North Korea, which conducted a nuclear test in 2006, has agreed to provide a "complete and correct" declaration of these programs by the end of the year, although analysts there is considerable uncertainty whether it will meet the deadline.

If Pyongyang gives a full accounting, the Bush administration is expected to drop it from the terrorism list, which imposes economic and other sanctions.

The CRS report noted the long-standing U.S. view that North Korea "was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since 1987" -- when it was implicated in the bombing of a South Korean airliner -- but suggested this was open to question.

"Questions about the credibility of the claim are relevant in view of the appearance of reports from reputable sources that North Korea has provided arms and possibly training to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka," the report added.

It said that in September 2006, Paris Intelligence Online, a French Internet publication that specializes in political and economic intelligence, had published details of an extensive North Korean program to give arms and training to Hezbollah.