Obama-Hatoyama meeting to keep Futemma discussions at a minimum+

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 Kyodo -
U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama are
likely to keep discussions on the U.S. Futemma air base relocation to a minimum
in their meeting next week and focus instead on other issues as both
governments try to avoid a standoff, bilateral sources said Friday.

The summit scheduled Friday in Tokyo is likely to be centered on issues
surrounding North Korea, Afghanistan and environmental problems. The two
governments also plan to compile a joint paper on strengthening their ties in
the field of energy technology and measures against the new H1N1 stain of
influenza A, according to the sources.
Obama's arrival to Japan was pushed back one day to Friday from the initial
schedule so he can attend a ceremony for the victims of Thursday's shooting
rampage at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, but the meeting schedule itself
remains unaffected, according to a source close to the Japanese Foreign
Ministry.
The bilateral sources also said Obama may refrain from specifically referring
to the Futemma issue in the meeting but still urge Japan to stick to their 2006
agreement over the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan, which the new
Japanese government seeks to review.
In May 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to move the heliport functions
of Futemma Air Station located in downtown Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to a
less densely populated area in Nago, northern Okinawa, by 2014. The two
countries also agreed at the time on the transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa
to Guam.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, which came to power in September after a
sweeping election victory, has promoted the idea of moving the Futemma airfield
out of Okinawa or even out of Japan.
Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific
affairs, said earlier this month in Japan that the upcoming summit's topics
should not be limited to the Futemma issue, and Japan agreed.
Working level officials on the U.S. side, meanwhile, have asked the Japanese
government to decide how to deal with the agreement within this year as they
believe it is necessary for Japan to include the costs of the alignment in its
budget for the next fiscal year.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also visited Japan last month, pressed
Japan to stick to the 2006 deal and resolve the issue before Obama's arrival,
but the U.S. government backed off as Hatoyama's government is still struggling
to reach a unified decision over the issue.
Obama was originally scheduled to visit Nov. 12 and 13 but asked for it to be
pushed back to attend the ceremony for the victims of the shooting rampage.
Hatoyama told reporters later in the day that the schedule change was probably
inevitable under the circumstances.
Under the original plan, Obama was to arrive in Japan and attend a dinner on
Thursday and hold the meeting with Hatoyama on Friday before leaving for
Singapore to attend a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
==Kyodo