Carter leaves N. Korea with freed American, n-promise

Aug 28, 2010 |

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Seoul, Aug. 27: Former US president, Mr Jimmy Carter, flew out of North Korea on Friday after securing the release of an American citizen and a pledge from Pyongyang that it wants to resume nuclear disarmament talks.

The Nobel peace laureate left the reclusive communist state with Mr Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an African-American who was jailed for illegally crossing into the North from China.

“At the request of Mr Carter, and for humanitarian purposes, Mr Gomes was granted amnesty” by North Korean leader, Mr Kim Jong-Il, said a Carter Centre statement.

Mr Gomes, 30, was first detained in January and sentenced in April to eight years of hard labour and a fine of about $600,000.

The US state department welcomed his release, while
stressing anew that Washington played no official role in Mr Carter’s mercy mission.

“We appreciate Mr Carter’s humanitarian effort and welcome North Korea’s decision to grant Mr Gomes special amnesty and allow him to return to the United States,” department spokesman, Mr Philip Crowley, said.

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