Japan PM faces more local refusal on Futenma

[unhappycamper]

Japan PM faces more local refusal on Futenma
By Mari Yamaguchi - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday May 7, 2010 11:04:12 EDT

TOKYO — Mayors on a small Japanese island refused Friday to lighten the load of neighboring Okinawa by hosting some of the U.S. Marines based there, throwing into doubt a compromise plan for the relocation of an American airfield.

A dispute over moving the Futenma Marine Corps airfield — which Okinawans say causes massive disruptions on their island — has shaken U.S.-Japan ties since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama froze a 2006 agreement with Washington that called for the base to be moved to a less crowded part of Okinawa.

Hatoyama has since reversed his promise to get the base off the island entirely, saying recently that much of the airfield must remain on Okinawa, though areas nearby may share the burden.

"I hope you understand the reality that requires Futenma to stay on Okinawa and its nearby region," he said Friday at his office, where the mayors visited. Overall, Okinawa hosts more than half of the 47,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a security pact.

But his compromise plan, which angered Okinawans, appeared to fall apart Friday when the three mayors from Tokunoshima flatly refused to take on part of Futenma's helicopter unit, or up to 1,000 of the 2,000 Marines, to Tokunoshima, an island about 130 miles north of Okinawa. The plan also has an option of some drills to be staged on Tokunoshima.