Rice plays down North Korean nuclear disablement bid

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played down North Korea's announcement on Tuesday that it would stop disabling its nuclear facilities and consider restoring the Yongbyon reactor.

"We actually are in discussions with the North Koreans and I think we'll just see where we come out in a few weeks," Rice told a news conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

She said Washington had "made it very clear" in recent disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, China, Japan and the United States "we are awaiting a verification mechanism that could assure the accuracy of North Korea's statement, or give us a way to verify the accuracy."

In a statement on North Korea's KCNA news agency, Pyongyang said it would stop disabling its nuclear facilities and consider restoring the Yongbyon reactor that can make material for atomic bombs, accusing the United States of violating a disarmament deal.

Analysts thought the move was no surprise given North Korea's deep reluctance to give up its nuclear weapons programme which has been its strongest negotiating card with the West.

Under a multilateral agreement, North Korea had previously agreed to disable the Yongbyon facility and fully declare all of its nuclear programmes.

Earlier this year Pyongyang handed over a declaration, but it has yet to agree on how to verify its accuracy.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mary Gabriel)