Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home Two Americans

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home U.S. Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

The two journalists were accompanied by President Clinton and CAP President and CEO John Podesta, arrived back home in California this morning after being held for five months in North Korea while reporting for Current TV. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for allegedly illegally entering North Korea. North Korea held the two captive for 140 days.

“I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones,” President Clinton said in a statement. “When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed. I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home.”

Shortly after landing in Los Angeles, Ling expressed her “deepest gratitude” for the rescue:
LING: Thirty hours ago Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea. We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now, we stand here, home and free. Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to President Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention, super-cool team.

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