MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Warnings to North Korea and Iran.

Counter terrorism and trade liberalization are in the essence of the APEC Economic Leaders summit final Santiago Declaration which ended this Sunday in Chile.

But US President George Bush went a step further and in his public statements in Chile insisted that North Korea must abandon any ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons and Iran must listen to the allies concern regarding Teheran's nuclear activities.

Both countries have been identified as belonging to the "axis of evil", a phrase coined a couple of years ago by President Bush and which was the motive of much intense parallel diplomatic activity during the APEC summit in Santiago.

"North Korea's leader will listen to an only voice" from the world promised President Bush after holding a bilateral meeting with Japan Primer Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

The issue was also addressed in other bilateral meetings with China's Hu Jintao, Vladimir Putin from Russia and South Korean president Rooh Moo Myung.

"Five APEC members are working to convince North Korea to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons", said Mr. Bush.

"I can report to you today, having visited with the other nations involved in the collaborative effort that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong il: get rid of your nuclear weapons program".

President Bush agreed with the Asian countries to resume negotiations in 2005 in the framework of the Group of Six (China, Russia, North and South Korea, US and Japan) with the purpose of de-activating Pyongyang's nuclear program. North Korea failed to attend the latest round of six party talks last September.

Iran was also cautioned by President Bush following reports it had accelerated production of uranium material that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

"It's very important for the Iranian government to hear that we are concerned about their desires and we're concerned about reports that show that prior to a certain international meeting, they're willing to speed up processing of materials that could lead to a nuclear weapon", highlighted President Bush.