SANTIAGO: North Korea, Iran and Iraq, the countries that US President George W. Bush labelled the "axis of evil" in early 2002, are the main unofficial issues being discussed at the 12th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit , which opened Saturday in the Chilean capital.

Bush arrived in Santiago late on Friday amidst a massive security presence, and met separately with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to discuss the question of North Korea's nuclear programme.

Sources close to the US leader said he also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about North Korea's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The leaders of China, Japan, Russia and the United States are the most prominent figures attending the gathering.

APEC, created in 1989, also comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

The 21 member economies represent 55 per cent of world trade, 57 per cent of global GDP, and 40 per cent of the world's population. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, and the Pacific Islands Forum are official observers in APEC.

Aside from the trade issues on the agenda, the summit is serving as a framework for several of the world's most powerful leaders to catch up on key political questions.

The United States, China and Russia are three of the five permanent members on the United Nations Security Council, and the latter two both opposed the March 2003 US-British invasion of Iraq.

Putin announced on Friday that he would tell Bush that he supported "holding a wide international conference, with participation of all involved parties, especially Iraq," to help Iraqis decide the future of their country.

In a private meeting with Chilean parliamentary leaders, the Russian president said a world order run by a single superpower - an obvious allusion to the United States - was simply inconceivable.

That leads to the cemetery, Putin reportedly told the legislators, although the president of the Chilean Senate, Hernán Larraín, said the Russian leader had referred to the crisis in Iraq "in an elegant and diplomatic manner."

The question of North Korea's nuclear ambitions was brought up by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos in a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-hyun, who will host next year's APEC summit.

US diplomatic sources told IPS Saturday that the meetings on the issue between leaders at the summit were aimed at generating international pressure for North Korean President Kim Jong Il to agree to negotiations.

Bush expressed to the presidents of China and Russia his concern over Iran's nuclear programme, despite the fact that according to Tehran the goal is to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, the sources added.

The US government hopes the European Union will be able to monitor Iran's nuclear programme and dissuade the government of that country from pursuing any possible plans to develop nuclear weapons, they said. The US has been the driving force at the APEC summit behind initiatives aimed at the coordination of measures to fight international terrorism. -Dawn/The InterPress News Service.