* Private aid group leaving North Korea by March 31 * Tensions over missile test, detained U.S. journalists By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - A private U.S. relief group providing food aid to North Korea said on Tuesday it was complying with Pyongyang's order to leave the hunger-racked nation by March 31, but added it hoped to resume operations. Amid tensions over North Korea's nuclear program and an expected missile launch next month, its reclusive government informed Washington last week of its decision not to accept more U.S. assistance, the State Department said. North Korea said a 2008 protocol, which would have provided 500,000 metric tonnes of U.S. food aid over a 12-month period, was "no longer in effect," said Paul Majarowitz, director of Mercy Corps NGO Food Assistance Program in North Korea. "We were given a letter by the North Korean government that asked us to close our field offices by March 20, and our main office by March 31, and have all of our staff and equipment out of the country by March 31," he said. The expulsion covered only the food aid program, not the private aid agencies themselves, Majarowitz added. "We're complying with that request and, at the same time, we're negotiating with them, trying to see if there is an avenue to restart or to resume the program," he said in remarks at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington. FOOD SHORTAGES PERSIST Mercy Corp began operating in North Korea in 1996, during a major famine that killed an estimated one million people. Under the 2008 agreement, it ran an office in Pyongyang and two field offices and had 16 international staff, he said. The United States had delivered 169,000 metric tonnes of the 500,000 metric tonnes of food aid. The last U.S. shipment, containing nearly 5,000 metric tonnes of vegetable oil and corn soy blend, arrived in January, the State Department said. The United States is at loggerheads with North Korea, along with other parties involved in six-nation talks, over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. North Korea is also thought to be preparing the launch of a missile, the Taepodong-2, with the potential to reach Alaska. The missile has never successfully flown. Adding to bilateral tensions, North Korea has detained two U.S. journalists since last week. South Korea media reports say they appear to have been charged with espionage. U.N. investigator Vitit Muntarbhorn told the world body's Human Rights Council last week the situation in North Korea was "dire and desperate". Authorities were moving to close all markets on which many people rely for food, he said. North Korean authorities were also apparently planning to ban small-lot, or "kitchen" farming, which had been vital for the survival of much of the population, while army personnel were forcing farmers to provide them food, Muntarbhorn said. (Editing by Paul Simao)
A Kenyan Forest Services worker runs from smoke as he tries to extinguish a fire at Karura forest near the capital Nairobi, March 24, 2009. Kenya is suffering a drought this ...
Politics of Aid
