U.S.: N. Korea to stay on terror list

U.S.: N. Korea to stay on terror list

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Wednesday it is too early to remove North Korea from a U.S. terrorism blacklist, a major demand by Pyongyang in international nuclear disarmament negotiations.

On Tuesday, Dell Dailey, the State Department's counterterror chief, told reporters that North Korea appears to have complied with the criteria needed to be removed from the list.

But White House press secretary Dana Perino, asked Wednesday if the administration was about to remove the North from the list, said: "No. Right now where we are is waiting on the North Koreans to provide a complete and accurate declaration of their nuclear activities."

The United States maintains that removing the North from the U.S. terrorism list is linked to North Korean progress on meeting commitments under a six-nation nuclear deal to disarm.