NY Times-Fmr President Carter Wins Release of American In N. Korea

Former President Jimmy Carter with N. Korean President Kim Yong Nam: Kyodo News/Associated Press

(Story reported by Choe Sang-Hung and Sharon LaFraniere for the NY Times)

SEOUL, South Korea — Former President Jimmy Carter was expected to leave North Korea on Friday with Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American who was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for illegally entering the country, the Carter Center said. 

Aijalon Mahli Gomes: newshopper.sulekha.com

“Former President Jimmy Carter announced that he is leaving Pyongyang, North Korea, this morning accompanied by Mr. Aijalon Mahli Gomes,” the Carter Center said in a statement sent in an e-mail message.

Mr. Carter had been visiting Pyongyang on a private humanitarian mission to win the release of Mr. Gomes, who was sentenced in April to eight years in a North Korean prison and fined $700,000 for entering the country illegally. There has also been speculation that North Korea might try to use Mr. Carter as a conduit to ease tensions with the United States. 

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