Accused U.S. army deserter wants family to remain together

Accused U.S. army deserter wants family to remain together

Agencies, Jakarta/Raleigh, North Carolina

Two days after an emotional reunion with his Japanese wife, an
American army sergeant who fled to North Korea 40 years ago said
he wants the family to remain together but has yet to say where
they would live, a Japanese official said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the family of Charles Robert Jenkins in the U.S.
state of North Carolina has reportedly asked U.S. President
George W. Bush to pardon him.

Jenkins and his two daughters had an emotional meeting with
his wife, Hitomi Soga, at Jakarta's international airport on
Friday before going to a five-star hotel in central Jakarta.

They have remained holed up in their 14th floor suite ever
since, Japanese officials said, talking, watching television and
eating. But so far, their future has yet to be addressed.

"It's too early for the Japanese government to bring up that
discussion," Kyoko Nakayama, special adviser to the Japanese
cabinet, told a press conference. "He told us 'the four of us
want to stay together always."'

Jenkins' family had its first home cooking in nearly two years
this weekend, in their room at a luxury downtown Jakarta hotel.

Soga cooked curry rice for her husband Jenkins and their
daughters Mika and Belinda in the presidential suite, Nakayama
said.

"Last night they had curry rice cooked by Mrs Soga by herself.
They had sandwiches from room service this morning. So far they
haven't left their rooms." said one Japanese official,
translating remarks by Nakayama's to the media.

The official said Jenkins had undergone a post-surgery medical
check by a Japanese doctor since arriving in Jakarta, but the
translators did not elaborate.

Jenkins, 64, and wife Hitomi Soga, 45, would not be leaving
Jakarta on Sunday, Japanese embassy spokesman, Toshihide
Kawasaki, told AFP.

Kawasaki declined to give further details, including whether
the family would venture out of their two-bedroom suite at a
luxury hotel here.

Jenkins is believed to be making his first trip outside North
Korea since he disappeared near the border with South Korea in
1965.

Nakayama who met Jenkins earlier on Sunday, told Japanese
journalists that Jenkins had been "lively" and had talked about
his first meeting with Soga and how they married shortly
afterward.

"The four of us should always stay together," Jenkins told her
during the conversation, she said.

But there was no further detail on where they could stay
together.

Meanwhile, the Raleigh News and Observer reported that
lawyer James B. Craven III mailed a petition on Friday to the
Justice Department on behalf of Jenkins' family in North
Carolina,

Jenkins is still wanted on U.S. desertion charges. He was
serving in an Army unit based on the Demilitarized Zone between
North and South Korea when he disappeared during a routine patrol
in 1965.

A few weeks later, the Army announced that Jenkins had
deserted to North Korea.

Craven said Bush would have ample precedent for granting a
pardon because former presidents granted executive clemency to
Vietnam War resisters, soldiers who were absent without leave and
those who, like Jenkins, were accused of desertion but never
tried.

Jenkins' family in North Carolina has had no contact with him
since 1965. His mother, now 91, is in poor health.

"I just thought it was time to do this," Craven said.
Craven said he doesn't expect any decision to come before the
November election.

Jenkins' nephew, James Hyman, said on Friday he has not seen
his uncle since he was 4.

"Seeing his face this morning in television, to be out and be
free, it was like he was actually happy to be out of North
Korea," he said.