U.S. urges Japan to lift beef ban, reach base deal

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa, Mar 18 (Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Japan on Saturday to reconsider its ban on U.S. beef sales over mad cow disease and to finalise a deal on U.S.

military bases.

The beef ban, a thorny issue for the United States and Japan, was one of the main issues on the agenda at Rice's meeting in Sydney with Japanese Foreign Minster Taro Aso, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

''The secretary asked them to reconsider the total ban on beef imports,'' McCormack told reporters travelling with Rice on her return to Washington, which included a refuelling stop in Pago Pago.

The Kyodo news agency, quoting Japanese officials in Sydney, said Rice told Aso that reinstating the ban on U.S. beef was an excessive reaction after a U.S. meat packing plant mistakenly shipped banned spinal materials in a batch of meat to Japan in January.

The renewed suspension of imports came just a month after Tokyo had lifted a two-year ban imposed in December 2003 due to mad cow fears.

McCormack said Aso promised to re-examine the ban.

''Our feeling is that what happened did not require a total ban on imports and we want to work quickly to resolve this issue,'' said another senior Bush administration official, who did not want to be named.

The United States discovered a third case of mad cow disease this week, while Japan confirmed on Friday it had found its 24th case and the first in a beef cow.

Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is believed to be caused by malformed proteins and spread through infected feed.

The human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is thought to be spread by eating contaminated meat and has caused more than 160 deaths worldwide.

The two sides also discussed the realignment of U.S. troops based in Japan, which is facing opposition from local residents.

Both sides hope a deal will be sealed by the end of March.

Opposition from local communities concerned about noise, accidents and crime associated with U.S. bases has hindered efforts to finalise the plan, part of Washington's global strategy to make its military a more flexible force.

The two sides also looked at Japan's involvement in Iraq. Tokyo wants to bring its troops back from their non-combat mission in Iraq.

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