US base on Okinawa will be relocated after 17 years of deadlock
Iran Press TV
Fri Dec 27, 2013 12:54PM GMT
A Japanese governor has approved the relocation of a controversial US military base on Okinawa which would allow Washington to consolidate its troops on the southern Japanese islands and move some to Guam.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima signed off on the long-awaited relocation of the US military's fiercely debated Futenma Air Station on Friday morning.
The decision comes after 17 years of protest against the Marine Corps' base and the 26,000 troops stationed there.
Gov. Nakaima approved the Japanese Defense Ministry's application to reclaim land for a new military base off the shore of Nago on Okinawa's coast which would replace the base in Futenma, a highly populated area of Okinawa's main island.
Many residents are incensed by noise, the risk of accidents and a string of rapes and sexual assaults by US military personnel stationed on the island.
'Regardless the will of the Okinawa people, the tension is heightening on (the) international front. Okinawa needs to play a certain role for that,' Gov. Nakaima said.
The US has had a major military presence in Okinawa since the end of World War II. About half of the 50,000 American military personnel in Japan are stationed on the island.
The relocation plan is part of an agreement to move 9,000 Marines off Okinawa, including transferring 5,000 to Guam.
The deadlock over the base has been a major source of tension between Tokyo and Washington since 1996 when the two governments agreed on the original plan to move the base.
HJ/HJ
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