Skip to main content

Clinton, Freed Journalists Head Home From North Korea





By VOA News
05 August 2009

Journalists Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) before boarding plane back to US with former US President Bill Clinton
Journalists Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) before boarding plane back to US with former US President Bill Clinton
Two U.S. journalists released from detention in North Korea are on their way back to the United States, accompanied by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who negotiated their freedom.

A spokesman for Mr. Clinton says the former president, with journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are en route to Los Angeles, California.

The journalists' employer, Current Media, says the women are expected to arrive in the United States later Wednesday.







On Tuesday, North Korea issued a pardon for Ling and Lee after Mr. Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The journalists were arrested in March for crossing the Chinese border into North Korea while working on a story. They also were charged with committing hostile acts against the North Korean government.

The families of the two women issued a statement saying they are "overjoyed by the news" of their pardon.

Former US President Clinton greets freed journalists Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) before leaving North Korea on way back to US
Former US President Clinton greets freed journalists Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) before leaving North Korea on way back to US
Although Current Media praised both Mr. Clinton and the Obama administration for resolving the situation, the White House said the Clinton trip was a "solely private mission."

Ling and Lee were reporting for San Francisco-based television news outlet Current TV. That company was co-founded by Al Gore, Mr. Clinton's former vice president and by businessman Joel Hyatt.

Tensions have risen in recent months over Pyongyang's nuclear test in May, and a series of subsequent test-firings of long- and short-range missiles. The nuclear test led to a United Nations resolution imposing a new series of tougher sanctions against the regime.

Mr. Clinton is the highest-profile American to visit North Korea since Madeleine Albright, his former secretary of state, who traveled there in 2000. He also is the second ex-U.S. president to travel to Pyongyang. Jimmy Carter visited in 1994, on a mission that led to a breakthrough accord on North Korea's nuclear program.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


source: http://www.voanews.com





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Iranian Clerics Protest Election Results

By VOA News 05 July 2009 A group of leading Iranian clerics has criticized the results of the country's disputed presidential election. In a statement released Sunday, clerics from the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom said Iran's official electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, failed to adequately investigate claims of vote rigging by the opposition. The pro-reform group questioned whether the Council's validation is enough to legitimize the vote. Last week, the 12-member Council upheld the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I ranian reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during a press conference after polls closed in Tehran, 12 June 2009 Defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has criticized the outcome. In a 24-page report posted to his Web site Saturday, Mr. Mousavi accuses supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad of handing out cash to voters in the run-up to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Military chief promotes 35 generals

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso has promoted 35 generals, consisting of 16 army generals, 11 navy admirals and 8 air force marshals. “It is expected that this time promotion will further enhance and improve the military performance so that we could give out the best output,” he said on Friday. Among those generals who receive the promotion is Rear Adm. Gunadi who is now posted as inspector general at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Langgeng Sulistyono, who is now posted as Diponegoro Military Commander and Rear Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, who is installed as Abdulrahman Saleh Air Force Base Commander.
Post a Comment
Read more

Chinese

Identifying someone in Indonesia as a member of the Chinese ( orang Tionghoa ) ethnic group is not an easy matter, because physical characteristics, language, name, geographical location, and life-style of Chinese Indonesians are not always distinct from those of the rest of the population. Census figures do not record Chinese as a special group, and there are no simple racial criteria for membership in this group. There are some people who are considered Chinese by themselves and others, despite generations of intermarriage with the local population, resulting in offspring who are less than one-quarter Chinese in ancestry. On the other hand, there are some people who by ancestry could be considered halfChinese or more, but who regard themselves as fully Indonesian. Furthermore, many people who identify themselves as Chinese Indonesians cannot read or write the Chinese language. Alth...
Post a Comment
Read more