Hatoyama not in stage to reach conclusion on base issue by year-end

TOKYO, Nov. 21 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday he is not yet at a stage in which
to draw to a conclusion by the end of the year on the issue of relocating a
U.S. military airfield in Okinawa Prefecture.
''I'm not yet at that stage,'' Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo in reference to
a media report that the prime minister is expected to reach a conclusion by
year-end.
Hatoyama's comment came after Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Saturday
reiterated his hope that the Japanese government will reach a conclusion by the
end of the year on the issue involving the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air
Station in Okinawa.
''It's desirable to reach a conclusion by the end of December'' in light of the
process to compile the fiscal 2010 state budget, Okada said in a speech in
Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture.
Okada acknowledged that his view is not completely the same as that of
Hatoyama, but added, ''Our views are not so different.''
Hatoyama said Friday he is speaking with ministers concerned to work out
Japan's position on the base issue and suggested he would basically abide by
discussions held by a Japan-U.S. high-level working group set up to examine the
matter.
Hatoyama has not clearly indicated any timing for his final decision on the
base issue.
Okada, who recently visited Okinawa, has referred to the possibility of
consolidating the Futemma facility with the nearby Kadena base, but the idea is
opposed not only by the United States but local governments that host the base.
But a government official has said the foreign minister is starting to think
seriously about the idea of a settlement centering on the existing plan.
Under a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord, which took years to reach, the Futemma
functions are to be relocated from downtown Ginowan to the U.S. Marines' Camp
Schwab in the less densely populated area of Nago in northern Okinawa, by 2014.
The plan involves the construction of two runways in the coastal area of Camp
Schwab.
==Kyodo