Hatoyama says agreement from 3 parties needed to settle Futemma+

TOKYO, April 15 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday he needs agreement from the United States, the ruling coalition bloc and local governments concerned to settle the
dispute over where to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture.

Hatoyama also renewed his pledge to resolve the matter by the end of May,
telling reporters, ''It goes without saying I will spare no efforts because
this is an issue I have come to tackle with determination.''
But with the deadline looking increasingly difficult to be met, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Hirofumi Hirano indicated it would be fine with the government even
if it obtained agreement from the parties concerned just to start consultative
talks.
''There is a range of interpretations'' of how to resolve or settle the issue,
Hirano said at a news conference, adding that ''creating a common basis'' for
discussing details of a specific relocation site ''means an agreement.''
Hirano also said, ''I don't take the position that there is no agreement or
acceptance unless everything has been worked out, including technical
details.''
Hirano's remarks were apparently aimed at making it easier to claim a
resolution of the matter by the deadline, given that the deadlock in the talks
with the United States and the local governments could threaten Hatoyama's
chances of remaining prime minister.
''The precondition is that the United States and...the public show their
understanding'' about the direction the Futemma issue will be moved toward a
settlement, Hatoyama said. He added that there also has to be an agreement
within his coalition government comprised of three parties.
''I consider the matter settled, in a sense, if the three conditions are met,''
he added.
On the perceived difference between Hatoyama and Hirano over the definition of
the matter's resolution, Hatoyama said, ''Because the chief Cabinet secretary
has been on the frontline (of negotiations), he may be, in a sense, thinking of
something slightly more calm.''
Meanwhile, senior members of the Social Democratic Party asked the government
to seriously consider the possibility of having the Futemma base relocated to
western Pacific islands such as Saipan and Tinian in line with its demand.
Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno and Diet affairs chief Kantoku Teruya, who
represents Okinawa, made the request to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kinya
Takino. Takino said he will convey the request to Hirano, according to the
lawmakers from the SDP, which is a junior coalition partner of Hatoyama's
Democratic Party of Japan.
On the prospect of the government almost certainly being unable to settle the
Futemma issue by the end of next month, Shigeno said after the meeting with
Takino that the deadline is not something agreed upon among the three coalition
parties but one that Hatoyama set on his own.
''I was worried if that can be accomplished, and the situation where that's
gradually becoming more of a reality is not a preferable thing at all,'' he
told reporters, referring to the likelihood the deadline will not be met. ''We
make this proposal to break the impasse.''
The Hatoyama government is now focusing on a plan to transfer the helicopter
functions of the Marine base to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture,
about 200 kilometers north of Okinawa, according to government sources. That is
among the plans believed to be floated within the almost-seven-month-old
DPJ-led government.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada denied the same day a media report which said
Japan's proposals to relocate the Futemma facility to Tokunoshima or another
area in Okinawa were effectively rejected by Washington, telling a
parliamentary committee, ''That is not the case.''
==Kyodo