Mr Jenkins will receive hospital treatment in Japan

Charles Jenkins, 64, could be turned over to US custody once he has been treated for a stomach complaint.

He flew to Tokyo with his Japanese wife and their two daughters, after a dramatic reunion in Indonesia.

His wife returned to Japan from North Korea in 2002, but Mr Jenkins remained, fearing he would be sought by the US.

Television footage showed a frail Mr Jenkins using a walking stick as he hesitantly disembarked from the plane to a waiting bus at Tokyo airport.

He has been taken to hospital for urgent medical treatment of a reportedly serious stomach condition, following earlier surgery in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

'Sympathetic'

The US ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker, said on Saturday the US would consider delaying its request for Japan to turn over Mr Jenkins.

He said the US was "sympathetic" to Mr Jenkins' condition, after Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi urged them to "consider the humanitarian aspects of the case".

On Thursday, a State Department spokesman insisted the US would pursue Mr Jenkins once he arrived in Japan, under a Status of Forces agreement between the two countries.