Okada hoping U.S. base issue resolved soon, options diminishing+

NAHA, Japan, Dec. 6 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Saturday reiterated the need for an early
settlement of the thorny issue of where to relocate a U.S. military airfield in
Okinawa, warning that Japan could even lose the trust of the United States if
it scraps a related bilateral agreement reached in 2006.

Indicating that the government has been left with limited options for resolving
the issue, Okada on the same day suggested to Okinawa media that he will
effectively give up on considering a possible alternative to the existing
accord that he has proposed, which is to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps'
Futemma Air Station to the nearby Kadena Air Base.
Okada made the remarks during his second visit to the southernmost prefecture
since becoming minister in September and just a day after the United States
expressed strong concern as Japan conveyed the difficulty of reaching a
conclusion on the issue by the end of the year.
''I am alarmed that we may lose the trust of the United States if we try to
scrap, in a one-sided way, the Japan-U.S. agreement when the United States is
telling Japan to comply with it,'' Okada told a press conference in the city of
Naha.
''I feel a very strong sense of crisis about the current situation of the
Japan-U.S. alliance and I strongly hope that I will be able to somehow break
the stalemate,'' he added.
But Okada said that his remarks at the press conference were not intended to
suggest a particular direction, while noting that the government needs to reach
''a political decision that may not be the best, but a better option.''
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo after holding
talks with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa that there are no prospects at the
moment for reaching a conclusion.
The Futemma issue is weighing heavily on the Democratic Party of Japan-led
government, which is caught between U.S. pressure and expectations among people
in Okinawa that the DPJ will seek to relocate the facility outside of the
prefecture in line with its stance prior to the Aug. 30 House of
Representatives election.
Also complicating the issue is the DPJ's relations with its two junior
coalition partners -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party --
which do not necessarily take the same position, especially on foreign policy
issues.
With officials in the foreign and defense ministries apparently leaning toward
the view that there is no alternative to moving the Futemma facility to the
location agreed in 2006, SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima hinted Thursday that her
party could leave the ruling coalition if Hatoyama's government decides to
comply with the accord.
''We are forced to make a choice amid a dilemma,'' Okada told around 100 people
at a meeting in Nago, where the Futemma facility is expected to be relocated
according to the 2006 agreement.
Many participants called for the facility to be moved out of the prefecture.
Near the public hall where the gathering was held, some people held banners
saying they do not want a base in the coastal area in Nago.
During the gathering, which was held behind closed doors except for the first
10 minutes, Okada stressed that the United States has repeatedly insisted that
the existing relocation plan cannot be changed and that the recent move by the
SDP has made a year-end settlement difficult, according to a DPJ lawmaker.
Denny Tamaki, a DPJ lower house member who arranged the gathering, said it was
significant to have the minister listen to ''the will of the people,'' but some
participants were not happy with the outcome.
''It was as if he came to make excuses, rather than coming to hear our
opinions,'' said Masao Nishikawa, 65.
At issue is the 2006 agreement reached by Japan and the United States on the
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, which includes relocating the Futemma
facility in Ginowan, another Okinawa city, to a less densely populated coastal
area in Nago by 2014.
Earlier in the day, Okada also met with Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha in the
prefectural capital of Naha and explained the current ''tough'' situation with
regard to the issue.
''Going on like this could lead to the situation that should be feared most,''
Okada said, apparently referring to the possibility that the danger to local
residents posed by the Futemma facility, located in a crowded residential area
of Ginowan, will not be removed for some time.
During his trip, which started Friday, Okada also visited the U.S. Marine
Corps' Camp Zukeran, where part of the land used by the facility will be
returned if the relocation of Futemma and the transfer of around 8,000 Marines
from Okinawa to Guam goes ahead in accordance with the agreement.
The small island prefecture of Okinawa accounts for about 75 percent of the
land area used for U.S. military facilities in Japan.
Noise, crimes involving U.S. military personnel and environmental pollution
have prompted local people to oppose the heavy U.S. military presence and
Okinawa has called for the burden associated with hosting such facilities to be
reduced.
==Kyodo