US deserter urged to plea bargain

Japan will urge accused US Army deserter Charles Jenkins to seek a plea bargain, reports said today, after doctors cleared him of any serious medical condition and chances increased that the United States would make an early request for his hand over.

Jenkins, who is wanted by the United States for allegedly abandoning his post in 1965 and defecting to North Korea, has won the support of the Japanese government because of his ties to Hitomi Soga, his Japanese wife.