Japan PM visits Okinawa
Over US base row:
JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Okinawa Sunday
after reports said Tokyo and Washington had reached an agreement over
the relocation of a US military base which has strained bilateral ties.
Hatoyama is expected to meet Okinawa Governor to explain the reported
agreement made Saturday on relocating the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air
Station on the southern island. The base in unpopular with locals on the
island, which hosts the majority of the US troops and military bases in
Japan.
Japanese and US negotiators agreed that the base would be relocated
on Okinawa rather than moved elsewhere, as agreed by previous
conservative governments in Tokyo and Washington, reports said Sunday.
Hatoyama met with his ministers and confirmed the agreement before his
visit to Okinawa, they said.
Tokyo and Washington will announce the broad agreement by the end of
May in a joint statement by foreign and defence chiefs of the two
countries, major national dailies and other Japanese media reported,
without disclosing their sources.
Tokyo, Sunday, AFP |