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Japan PM scraps US base move plan | Japan PM scraps US base move plan |
(10 minutes later) | |
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said it will not be feasible to entirely remove a controversial US base from the island of Okinawa. | Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has said it will not be feasible to entirely remove a controversial US base from the island of Okinawa. |
The US Marines' Futenma base is deeply unpopular with Japanese and removing it had been a key election pledge of the prime minister. | |
But on a visit to the island, Mr Hatoyama said "realistically speaking, it is impossible" to fully relocate it. | But on a visit to the island, Mr Hatoyama said "realistically speaking, it is impossible" to fully relocate it. |
The base is home to more than half the 47,000 American troops based in Japan. | The base is home to more than half the 47,000 American troops based in Japan. |
"I really feel sorry as I visit here today that I must ask for the Okinawan people's understanding that part of the base operations would have to stay," the AFP news agency quoted Mr Hatoyama as saying. | "I really feel sorry as I visit here today that I must ask for the Okinawan people's understanding that part of the base operations would have to stay," the AFP news agency quoted Mr Hatoyama as saying. |
He said maintaining the base in some form was needed for national security, under Japan's post-war military alliance with the US. | |
Protests | |
Mr Hatoyama, who had promised to resolve the issue by the end of May, was speaking on his first visit to Okinawa since becoming prime minister. | Mr Hatoyama, who had promised to resolve the issue by the end of May, was speaking on his first visit to Okinawa since becoming prime minister. |
He appealed to the people of Okinawa to accept a compromise agreement and to "share the burden" of the base. | |
Japan and the US agreed a deal in 2006 to reduce US troop presence in Okinawa and move personnel away from built-up areas, but Mr Hatoyama had favoured removing troops completely. | |
The row over Futenma has undermined support for Japan's centre-left government and damaged its ties with the US. | |
Last month, nearly 100,000 people staged a protest on the southern island, demanding that the base be removed. | |
Islanders have been angered by incidents involving US troops based there, including the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three US servicemen. | |
Other complaints have focused on noise levels and objections to the US military use of Japanese land. |