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.