Plan to keep US base angers Japanese

Angry residents of Okinawa have rejected a plan by the Japanese prime minister to keep at least part of a disputed US military base on the island.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Tuesday that removing the US Marines' Futenma air base from the southern island of Okinawa would be impossible.

"We have reached a conclusion that it is difficult to relocate all of Futenma's functions outside the country or the island because of a need to maintain deterrence under the Japan-US alliance," he said after a meeting with local officials in Okinawa.

Hatoyama went on to express hope that islanders would accept a plan to transfer some US Marines to the tiny island of Tokunoshima, located in northeast of Okinawa.

The Japanese official, however, was greeted by angry protesters who demanded him stick to his election promise of moving the airbase off the island altogether.

Some 47,000 US troops are currently based in Japan, with more than half of the soldiers stationed in Okinawa.

The issue has threatened the political future of Hatoyama with both Washington and his political allies putting him under pressure to find a solution to the deadlock.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=125449§ionid=351020406.