Hatoyama still hoping to settle U.S. base dispute by end of May+

TOKYO, April 21 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday that he has no plans to alter his self-imposed deadline of May 31 for resolving a dispute over where to relocate a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa, saying his government is making all-out efforts
to attain the goal.

On his own responsibility should he fail to settle the dispute by then,
Hatoyama said during a parliamentary debate, ''I will work hard to realize all
policies by staking my job (as prime minister) on it.''
Hatoyama also suggested that the government will pursue relocating the Futemma
Air Station to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, saying, ''It would
not be appropriate for the Marines to be moved too far (from Okinawa).''
But with the mayors of the three towns on the island having rejected the
government's request the previous day for a meeting to discuss the matter, it
appears almost impossible for the government to resolve the row by the
deadline.
During a one-on-one debate with opposition leaders in the Diet, Hatoyama said
his desire to seek the Futemma base's relocation outside of Okinawa remains
unchanged.
''We must try to reduce the burdens on the people of Okinawa as much as
possible,'' he said in response to a question from main opposition Liberal
Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki.
Hatoyama apologized to the residents of Tokunoshima, which the government is
eyeing as a possible relocation site for the Futemma base although it has yet
to announce it officially, for causing them concern.
Hatoyama also indicated he would visit Okinawa at an appropriate time over the
matter.
The prime minister dismissed a bilateral agreement with the United States to
move the Futemma base in Ginowan to a coastal area of the Marines' Camp Schwab
in Nago, also in Okinawa, saying, ''I've wiped that notion (of implementing the
accord or a modified version of it) from my mind.''
''When I think about the people of the prefecture and Japanese-U.S. security
arrangements in the true sense of the word, I believe the day will come when
people will say, 'This decision (to move Futemma outside of Okinawa) was
right','' he told reporters in the evening.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister reiterated his pledge to settle the
dispute, alluding to clear skies associated with the month of May. ''While the
weather may be harsh now, we must bring about clear May weather by the end of
the month without fail,'' he told reporters.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano expressed hope for a meeting with the
mayors of Tokunoshima, saying at a morning news conference, ''If we work hard
now, there's a good possibility (of meeting with the mayors).''
Hirano also admitted that he called Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Tuesday
but declined to elaborate on the content of their discussion.
Hirano is believed to have asked the governor to be prudent about attending a
local rally scheduled for Sunday, to which organizers are hoping to draw
100,000 people to oppose the relocation of the base within the southernmost
prefecture.
On an idea he says he has in mind regarding where to move the Futemma base,
Hatoyama said during the debate he cannot disclose it yet. ''It would cause
trouble (for a potential relocation site) if we were to tell them that it will
be done this way, unless the U.S. side has expressed understanding of it,'' he
said.
The government has ''no additional plan in mind'' other than the Tokunoshima
idea, a government source said earlier in the day.
Regarding his remarks Wednesday that the Marines should not be relocated too
far from Okinawa, Hatoyama was later asked if he had changed his view regarding
the deterrence that the Marines stationed on the island are said to provide
given that he had previously mentioned the possibility of even moving the
Futemma base abroad.
''I had been long aware of the importance of deterrence, but such awareness has
deepened since I entered government, as I got to understand various kinds of
information,'' he told reporters in the evening.
The Hatoyama government, which came to power last September, has spent months
reexamining the bilateral agreement to relocate the Futemma base to Nago -- a
move the United States has consistently called for.
While the government has yet to officially announce an alternative proposal,
the idea, according to government sources, is to transfer Futemma's helicopter
unit to Tokunoshima, about 200 kilometers northeast of the main island of
Okinawa.
But the mayors of the Tokunoshima towns have dismissed the idea in light of
last Sunday's mass protest on the island, in which organizers said about 15,000
people, more than half the island's population, participated to oppose the
potential relocation of the base there.
During the Diet debate, Hatoyama said he places priority on removing the
dangers posed by the Futemma base to nearby residents, saying his government
will make maximum efforts toward the eventual return of the base site to the
Japanese side in 2014.
Under the current deal, which forms a pillar of a broader agreement forged
between Japan and the United States in 2006, the base site would be returned to
Japan upon completion of the relocation.
The relocation plan is linked to another pillar, the transfer of about 8,000
Marines from Okinawa to Guam. The completion of the new airfield in Nago and
the Marines' transfer to Guam are targeted for 2014.
Hatoyama said he set the May 31 deadline because missing it would affect the
Marine transfer to the U.S. territory, adding, ''Such concern will be wiped
away if we come up with an answer.''
==Kyodo