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US, Japan agree to relocate US military base on Okinawa

Other News Materials 28 May 2010 16:31 (UTC +04:00)
US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Friday they had agreed to relocate a US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa despite mounting local opposition.
US, Japan agree to relocate US military base on Okinawa

US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Friday they had agreed to relocate a US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa despite mounting local opposition, DPA reported.

The two leaders issued a statement following a 20-minute phone call, welcoming the relocation of the Futenma air base to a less densely populated part of Okinawa.

"They expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the two sides in reaching an operationally viable and politically sustainable plan to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma," the White House said.

The agreement represents a major climbdown for Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan, which came to power last year, had promised to scrap a 2006 deal with the US to relocate Futenma on the island and move the base from Okinawa altogether.

Hatoyama earlier apologized to the islanders for breaking his promise, but is likely to suffer a further loss in popularity over the decision, as well as disaffection within the ruling coalition.

Relations with Washington had cooled considerably following Hatoyama's announcement of his intention scrap the 2006 deal.   

Obama and Hatoyama reiterated their commitment "to strengthen cooperation under the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Security and Cooperation," the statement said.

Japan and the US had agreed to the closure of the base in 1996 and in 2006 the then-government reached a deal with Washington similar to the current compromise to move the base to Henoko, a sparsely populated area in the northern city of Nago.

Hatoyama told reporters after speaking with Obama that the president expressed his "gratitude that an agreement was made in the two-plus-two," a bilateral committee on security matters comprising US and Japanese defence and foreign ministers.

Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine said of the governments' decision that it "means a betrayal of Okinawans."

Inamine added he would refuse to negotiate with the government.

On April 25, 90,000 people demonstrated on Okinawa, urging the government to move the proposed facility off the island. About 20 per cent of the island, located 1,600 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, is devoted to US military facilities.

The two leaders also condemned the North Korean torpedo attack on a South Korean warship and pledged to cooperate closely with Seoul, including in support of appropriate action by the UN Security Council, the White House said.

"The president and the prime minister called on North Korea to end its provocative behavior towards its neighbors and to abide by its commitment to eliminate its nuclear-weapons program and to fulfill its other international obligations."

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