Envoys at talks on North Korea's nuclear program neared a tentative agreement after marathon talks, the Associated Press reports from Beijing. It says that Chinese officials said today that the reported "draft agreement" could set the stage for Pyongyang to take its first steps to disarm after more than three years of negotiations.The tentative deal -- which CNN just said still needs to be OK'd by the various countries home governments -- came after 16 hours of what Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang called "extraordinarily intensive consultations" on the fifth day of talks."Some positive results have been achieved," Qin said, but he added that the negotiators would have to meet again later Tuesday in Beijing.No details of the proposal were immediately available, according to the AP.As the wire service notes, the current round of six-nation talks began Thursday on a promising note after the United States and North Korea signaled a willingness to compromise. But negotiations quickly became mired on the issue of how much energy aid the North would get in exchange for initial steps of disarmament.Other delegates at the talks -- which also include Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. -- had called North Korea's earlier demands for energy excessive.
