Charles Robert Jenkins

Charles Robert Jenkins, who married Hitomi Soga in the North after she was kidnapped in 1978, is wanted by Washington for allegedly deserting his U.S. Army post and defecting to the North in the 1960s.

Abe said on a TV talk show that he hoped the United States would make an exception for Jenkins "based on the importance of our relationship as allies."

Tokyo plans to ask Washington to either grant Jenkins amnesty or exempt him from prosecution, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported the same day.

Japan has unofficially raised the issue with the United States, but has been told the president or defense secretary must make the decision, the newspaper said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in November 2002 that he opposed pardoning Jenkins, 63. He could be jailed for five years if convicted of peacetime desertion.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 22, 2004
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