North Korea 'begins Fuelling Rocket for Launch'

North Korea has begun fueling a rocket in readiness for a launch that could take place within days, it was reported today.

The move comes despite the US calling for the abandonment of the launch, which it suspects is cover for a ballistic missile test.

CNN, citing an unidentified senior US military official, said final preparations to launch the missile were being made.

Pyongyang insists the launch will be used to send a communications satellite into orbit.

The US and its allies believe North Korea is using the mission to test a Taepodong-2 missile capable, in theory, of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

According to experts, the rocket will be ready for takeoff within three to four days after fueling begins.

Pyongyang has informed international agencies it will conduct the launch during daylight hours between Saturday and Wednesday.

Images of the launch site, in Musudan-ri, on the country's north-eastern coast, suggest the rocket has been fitted with a satellite as Pyongyang claims.

The US president, Barack Obama, in London for the G20 financial summit, described the impending launch as "a provocative act" and warned North Korea risked tougher UN sanctions if it refused to back down.

A US official quoted Obama as telling his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, that Washington would seek a coordinated response at the UN, "since this [the launch] would be a violation of UN security council resolutions".

The US and Japan insist even a satellite launch would fall foul of a UN resolution banning North Korea from ballistic activity.

The resolution was introduced after a Taepodong-2 missile exploded moments after blasting off in 2006.

China and Russia, however, are expected to use their security council veto powers to block additional sanctions.

The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based conflict resolution thinktank, called for a measured response and said it was not clear whether the UN resolutions applied to the use of rockets for "peaceful outer space activities".

Yesterday, North Korea raised tensions when it threatened to shoot down any US spy planes that encroached on its air space prior to the launch.

The US and Japan say they are prepared to shoot down boosters from the rocket in the event that the test fails and debris falls towards a "danger zone" over northern Japan.

The first booster in the multistage rocket is expected to fall into the Sea of Japan and the second into the Pacific Ocean.

Batteries of PAC-3 land to air missile interceptors have been sent to the Akita prefecture, in northern Japan, and two destroyers, armed with ship to air SM-3 interceptors, are patrolling the coastline.

Officials in the area today sought to play down the prospect of a catastrophic malfunction, saying the chances of debris falling on Japanese territory were "one in a million".