North Korea spurns talks

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - North Korea spurned calls to return to nuclear talks at an Asia security forum on Friday, while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dashed hopes that she would plunge into a fresh Middle East initiative.

Rice made clear at a news conference after the forum in the Malaysian capital that she intended to return to the Middle East but she did not give a timetable.

"I am going to return to the Middle East. The question is, when is it right for me to return to the Middle East," she said.

Rice had been set to leave Malaysia on Friday, but her staff said she delayed her departure, probably until Saturday.

It was unclear where she would go next. But she indicated it was too early to use her diplomatic muscle and push for a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, which has been pounding Hizbollah in southern Lebanon for more than two weeks.

Rice had been attending the ASEAN Regional Forum, hosted annually by the Association of South East Asian Nations, where members of the six-party talks had tried to get Pyongyang to join multilateral discussions about North Korea's nuclear programs.

North Korea made clear from the outset it was not interested and in the closed-door session on Friday threatened to quit the forum altogether, apparently angry about criticism of its recent missile tests in the chairman's statement.

North Korea test-fired seven missiles on July 5, defying warnings to desist. Rice called the missile firings a "dangerous act" but the North Koreans said it was part of their regular military exercises.

A Japanese official told reporters North Korea's Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun told the forum the criticisms ran counter to the members' tradition of seeking consensus. "We may reconsider whether to stay in the ARF," Paek told the forum, one of Pyongyang's few outlets for international dialogue.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar later said he was certain North Korea would not carry out the threat. "No, they are not leaving ARF. I think it's a good opportunity for them even if they disagree ... a good opportunity for them to express their opinions," he told reporters ahead of a dinner with the North Korean delegation on Friday night.

TALKS, TIRADES AND PROTESTS

While talks and tirades proceeded inside the convention center, outside thousands of demonstrators led by the son-in-law of host Malaysia's prime minister protested against Israel at the doors, burning an American flag and Rice in effigy.

"Rice get out!" the protesters chanted.

The Middle East crisis had seemed set to dominate the forum, Asia's main security meeting of 24 nations plus the European Union and new member Bangladesh.

All the bags were packed and ready to go when the State Department announced Rice would delay her departure from Kuala Lumpur. A State Department official said she would likely leave on Saturday. "Things will become clearer in due course," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.

Rice came here from a packed round of meetings in the Middle East via a one-day conference in Rome that called for an urgent but not immediate ceasefire to hostilities in southern Lebanon.

She said on arrival she was willing to return to the Middle East at any time, but added that only made sense if she could help bring about a lasting peace, underlining Washington's reluctance to rein in Israel while it is fighting Hizbollah.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he would be returning to Brussels for talks with EU states on the shape of a possible U.N.-mandated stabilisation force that could be deployed to Lebanon to help Lebanese government forces.

A U.N. Security Council resolution mandating the force needed to be agreed, he said. "The sooner, the better -- at the beginning of this week if possible," he added.

The unexpected arrival of Iran's foreign minister in Malaysia further focused attention on the Middle East.

Manouchehr Mottaki met counterparts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh on Friday and they agreed to hold an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference on August 3 to discuss the Middle East situation. Malaysia chairs the 57-nation OIC, the main grouping of Islamic countries.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch, Jack Kim, Jalil Hamid, Mark Bendeich and Sue Pleming)