UN Sec General welcomed release of American journalists
10:26, 6 August 2009
NEW-YORK. August 6. KAZINFORM /Aliya Altyngazina/ U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed the release of two American journalists by the Democrat People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Ban also congratulated former U.S. President Bill Clinton "for his successful humanitarian mission."
Clinton left Pyongyang on a chartered plane along with the two journalists, after a 20-hour visit and a high-profile meeting with DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Il. The jet arrived at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport at dawn Wednesday local time.
The reporters -- Laura Ling 32 and Euna Lee 36, who worked for the San Francisco-based Current TV co-founded by Clinton's Vice President Al Gore -- were captured March 17 and in June were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.
The U.N. chief "appreciates the decision of the DPRK to release them on humanitarian considerations, responding to the repeated calls by the international community," the statement said.