RI will allow Jenkins family to stay longer in Jakarta

RI will allow Jenkins family to stay longer in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on
Wednesday that the government was ready to provide an extended
stay permit for the Jenkins family should they need to stay here
longer.

Hassan said Indonesia would provide the necessary facilities
for the reunited family to settle their problems.

"As host country, we allow them to stay here for one month in
accordance with their visa permit. But should they need to stay
longer we will be very flexible," Hassan said.

When asked about the possible transfer of Jenkins to another
country for medical treatment, Hassan said that Indonesia was
always ready to help and it would need further consultation
between the Japanese, Indonesia and North Korean governments.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Wednesday Tokyo
wanted to bring Jenkins to Japan for medical care and hoped to
resolve a deadlock with Washington over his possible arrest if he
did come.

Meanwhile, AFP reported from Tokyo that Japan hinted on
Wednesday that Washington could back down on its threat to
prosecute Jenkins, who is accused of deserting the U.S. Army for
North Korea in the 1960s and who left the communist state for the
first time last week to be reunited with his wife in Indonesia.

In Washington U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
repeated the U.S. position on Wednesday that Jenkins, 64, could
face charges if he went to Japan, which has an extradition treaty
with Washington.

Media reports have said that Tokyo is seeking to allow Jenkins
to travel to Japan but would avoid handing him over to the United
States based on "humanitarian" grounds, claiming he is too sick
to be prosecuted.