U.S. envoy tells Okinawa governor existing plan only viable option+

NAHA, Japan, Nov. 30 Kyodo -
U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos told Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Monday
that moving a U.S. military base within the prefecture as agreed under a 2006
bilateral deal is the ''best and only viable option.''
The meeting came about as the U.S. envoy set foot on the island earlier in the
day for the first time as envoy for a three-day stay. The two countries are
continuing to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air
Station to a new airfield in Okinawa.
In the meeting, which was open to reporters, Nakaima noted that calls are
growing in Okinawa for moving the base outside the prefecture rather than
relocating it elsewhere on the island, and asked when a high-level bilateral
working group intends to finish reviewing the matter.
''As soon as possible,'' Roos said, adding that the group, in which he
participates as a member, is working diligently to resolve the issue. ''I'm
hopeful that, again, we reach an expeditious conclusion because I think it's
important to do so, and I know you do, too.''
The existing relocation plan was agreed between the two countries in 2006 as
part of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, but Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama has revisited the issue, indicating that the base could be moved off
the prefecture to ease base-hosting burdens on local residents.
The issue has grown into a major sticking point straining the bilateral alliance.
During the meeting, Nakaima also addressed a recent fatal hit-and-run incident
in Okinawa in which a U.S. Army service member is alleged to have run over a
local villager. He asked Roos that the United States cooperate with local
police in conducting investigations.
Roos offered condolences to the victim's family and said his commitment as U.S.
ambassador is to cooperate ''in any way we can'' to help resolve the case.
Noting that more than 20 incidents and accidents take place in Okinawa every
month in connection with the U.S. military based here, Nakaima said to Roos,
''I urge you to make efforts to reduce them as close to zero as possible.''
Vice Gov. Zenki Nakazato, who joined the same meeting, told Roos he hopes the
ambassador will use his legal background as a lawyer to address issues
concerning the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, which governs the
operations of the U.S. military in Japan.
Prior to the meeting, Roos, who assumed the ambassadorship in August, visited
the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman on the island's southern tip to lay flowers
there. The area was one of the fiercest battlegrounds in World War II.
After surveying the stone monuments on which the names of more than 240,000
people who died in the Battle of Okinawa are inscribed, Roos referred to his
visit to the park as ''very powerful.''
On Tuesday, the envoy will survey U.S. military bases on the island. He is also
expected to meet with Marine Lt. Gen. Terry Robling, the top commander of U.S.
forces on the island.
Under the 2006 agreement, the Futemma facility in a crowded residential area of
Ginowan will be moved to a new airfield to be built at the Marines' Camp Schwab
in Nago by 2014, and as part of the package 8,000 Marines will be moved from
Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam.
But Hatoyama, who took office in September following the general election
victory of his Democratic Party of Japan, has suggested moving the base out of
Okinawa or out of the country altogether.
With Washington urging Tokyo to stick to the existing deal, the two countries
have launched the working group to study the matter and agreed to reach a
conclusion ''expeditiously.''
While calls are growing in Okinawa to relocate the Futemma base outside the
prefecture, Nakaima has so far maintained his conditional support for the Nago
relocation plan.
==Kyodo
2009-11-30 23:28:01