Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar confirmed today that his country was willing to host a reunion between a US army deserter living in North Korea and his Japanese wife.

Syed Hamid also suggested Malaysia would consider allowing the couple to settle here, if they made such a request.

"If they think we can provide a venue for the meeting ..., of course Malaysia will be happy to do so," he told reporters.

Former US army sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins, 64, has refused to leave North Korea for a reunion in Japan with his wife, Hitomi Soga, 45, for fear of being handed over to the United States under an extradition treaty for a possible court martial.

The couple's two daughters remain with Jenkins.

Soga was kidnapped by Pyongyang in the 1970s and repatriated in 2002 after a visit to North Korea by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

The Japanese government is reportedly trying to arrange a family meeting in a third country.

Ideal venue

A senior foreign ministry official said today Malaysia would be an ideal venue for a meeting because it has diplomatic ties with North Korea but no extradition treaty with the United States.

Syed Hamid also suggested Malaysia would be prepared to consider allowing the couple to settle here.

"Let's wait and see," he said when asked about that possibility. "Let's see if they are going to hold talks in Malaysia... Let's look at it when it comes."

Malaysia has in the past served as a link between Japan and North Korea, hosting talks in October 2002 on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

Koizumi raised Jenkins' plight with US President George W Bush this week, but a top US official said after their meeting that Jenkins "is still technically in the US army and still wanted on four different charges." - AFP