Hatoyama: No Futenma decision prior to Obama's Nov. 12-13 visit

[FarCenter]

The Yomiuri Shimbun - http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20091023TDY01306.htm

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday evening he did not believe a final decision on the relocation plan for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture should be made before U.S. President Barack Obama visits Japan on Nov. 12-13.

"I don't think is an issue that should be given a time limit, nor does it have to be solved before U.S. President Obama comes ," Hatoyama told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office. Hatoyama admitted he "indirectly" heard that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Wednesday that Japan should make a final decision on the issue before Obama's visit.

However, the prime minister said he recognized that assistance for Afghanistan and Pakistan is a much bigger theme for the U.S. president. "Getting to work on Japan's own assistance measures should be the first task," he said, indicating a desire to make Afghanistan a core issue during the Japan-U.S. summit talks.

<SNIP>

Earlier in the day, Okada also said it would be difficult for the government to reach a conclusion on the Futenma issue prior to Obama's visit. "People in Okinawa have their opinions, and so do the Japanese people, as shown in the House of Representatives election," Okada said during a TV program when asked whether the government would make a decision on the relocation plan. "It won't end up with the government accepting what the U.S. government requested in a short time, saying 'we'll do it as it is a U.S.-Japan agreement.'"