Maehara seeks earlier return of U.S. bases in Okinawa

NAHA, Japan, Dec. 21 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tuesday that Tokyo will accelerate its
talks with Washington on whether it is possible to have some sites occupied by
U.S. military facilities returned earlier than others under a package deal, so
as to lessen base-hosting burdens on locals sooner than planned.
Maehara, who made a one-day visit to Okinawa, unveiled the plan at a press
conference in Naha after meeting with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima and the top U.S.
military official on the island, Okinawa Area Coordinator Lt. Gen. Terry
Robling.
In a meeting with Nakaima, Maehara said the government is eager to ease the
local base-hosting burdens by implementing the current Japan-U.S. accord on the
relocation of a key U.S. Marine base in Okinawa, which links the return of land
occupied by military facilities south of the U.S. Kadena Air Base and the
transfer of 8,000 Marines to Guam with the base transfer.
Nakaima told Maehara it would be ''faster'' to find a site outside of Okinawa
to host a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station,
rather than executing the current plan to relocate the base within the southern
Japanese island.
The governor said he was reelected in November for his second four-year term
with a pledge to strive to move the Futenma facility out of the prefecture and
told Maehara that the central government should ''accept it as a promise to the
people of Okinawa.''
Maehara, who traveled to Okinawa for the first time in his capacity as foreign
minister, apologized for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's failure to
fulfill its pledge during the general election campaign last year to seek to
relocate the Futenma facility outside of Okinawa.
''I offer my heartfelt apology to the people of Okinawa'' over the base
relocation issue, Maehara said in the meeting.
The DPJ-led government gave up on its campaign pledge and reached a fresh
accord with the United States in May to transfer the Futenma facility, located
in a crowded residential area, to a less densely populated coastal area in the
prefecture.
After meeting with the foreign minister, the governor told reporters that the
two ''remained apart'' over the base relocation issue.
Maehara told the news conference that the government will ''continue to
maintain dialogue and sincerely request the understanding'' of Okinawan people
on the Futenma relocation plan.
The foreign minister visited Okinawa following Prime Minister Naoto Kan's visit
to the prefecture last week.
Maehara also met with Robling at the U.S. Marines' Camp Zukeran. Robling said
that the use of the Futenma airstrip by U.S. fighters belonging to the Kadena
Air Base, which has been undergoing repair works, will be kept to a minimum,
according to the minister.
==Kyodo