Hatoyama to work on U.S. base relocation beyond May+

TOKYO, May 13 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama admitted Thursday he may miss his self-imposed
deadline of May 31 to find a relocation site for a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa
Prefecture, but expressed his willingness to stay on as Japanese leader to try
to resolve the issue.
Despite having staked his job as prime minister on meeting the deadline,
Hatoyama told reporters outside his residence, ''We will do as much as we can
do (to resolve the issue) by the end of May but the question is whether we will
be able to get everything done.''
''We will make efforts in June and thereafter on what we have to discuss
further,'' said Hatoyama, who is already suffering from declining support
ratings.
In an effort to resolve the relocation of the Futemma Air Station, Hatoyama's
government has proposed transferring part of its drills -- for roughly 500 U.S.
Marines -- to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, and is planning to
ask other prefectures to accept some drills at local Self-Defense Forces bases,
according to people involved.
Hatoyama will call on prefectural governors to cooperate on reducing the heavy
presence of U.S. military forces in Okinawa when they hold a meeting possibly
on May 27, government sources said.
The government is considering moving most functions of the base, however, to
shallow waters off the coast of Nago, another Okinawa prefectural city, from
populous Ginowan, but has met opposition from both local people and the United
States.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano asked assembly members from Tokunoshima
Island during a meeting Wednesday to accept a proposal for the island to host
drills for roughly 500 U.S. Marines, one of them said Thursday, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
A Tokunoshima town assembly member, Tomiyoshi Ikeyama, told reporters Thursday
that none of the five members of who held talks with Hirano, including himself,
was in favor of the request.
Last week, the three town mayors of the Kagoshima Prefecture island met
Hatoyama and rejected his request to host some of the functions of the base.
The United States, meanwhile, has conveyed its concerns to Japan over
environmental problems associated with the relocation plan, in addition to the
risk of terrorist attack, according to sources familiar with the two countries'
negotiations.
Hatoyama said Thursday, ''I heard it (the situation) was very severe. But it is
important to hear opinions and necessary to continue doing this,'' referring to
Hirano's talks Wednesday with local assembly members.
His chances of meeting the deadline are becoming more remote as people in
Okinawa have also been growing increasingly vocal in opposing the idea of
relocating the base within the prefecture, even so after Hatoyama ditched his
earlier pledge to move it out of Okinawa last week.
Hirano said, however, he believes Hatoyama's remarks do not mean the government
has given up on the end-of-May deadline.
''I've been saying this from before that the process of working out the details
will not be completed by the end of May,'' the top government spokesman said.
Hirano said Japan is hoping to reach a deal with the United States, and also
among members of the Hatoyama Cabinet by the end of this month on ''the
direction'' of how to relocate the Futemma base.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa also defended Hatoyama, saying, ''This will
not lead to a question of whether he should resign or not,''
''The premier is making efforts (to resolve the issue) by giving priority to
reducing the burden on Okinawa'' of hosting U.S. military bases, Kitazawa told
the upper house committee on diplomacy and defense. The bulk of such facilities
in Japan are located in the island prefecture.
==Kyodo
2010-05-13 23:25:34