Small changes possible in Okinawa US base plan

TOKYO, Mar 21 (Reuters) Japan's Defence Minister and Prime Minister today agreed that small changes may be possible in a plan to relocate a US Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa that has sparked local anger.

The plan to relocate the Futenma Marine Corps air base was contained in an October deal between Tokyo and Washington on relocating the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan, part of US efforts to transform American forces globally into a more flexible force.

Opposition from the city of Nago, site of the Futenma relocation, and other Japanese communities worried about noise, accidents and crime associated with the US bases is delaying efforts to finalise the overall realignment plan by the end of March.

Defence Minister Fukushiro Nukaga met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today morning to discuss the Futenma relocation, and the two agreed that minor changes may be possible in an attempt to make the plan more agreeable to local residents, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

''Our discussions will be centred on the government's original plan, and that will be the basis for our talks,'' Nukaga was quoted by the spokesman as saying.

''But that doesn't mean that we absolutely can't make any concessions. We need a plan that can be carried out,'' he added.

The spokesman declined to comment on what the changes, if any, might include.

Nukaga was set to meet the mayor of Nago later on Tuesday.

According to Japanese media reports, a senior lawmaker in the ruling coalition indicated on Sunday that changes in the plan were possible.

But government officials on Monday denied this, reiterating that the government would stick to its original plan while trying to win the understanding of local residents.

Resentment of the US military presence runs deep in Okinawa, where the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen set off huge demonstrations and triggered calls to lessen the American presence on the island, one of Japan's poorest areas and host to about half the US military presence in the country.

Many Okinawa residents want the Futenma facility moved off the island altogether, but opposition to the US military presence has grown elsewhere as well.

On March 12, in a rare referendum, residents of the western city of Iwakuni voted overwhelmingly against a plan to expand a nearby US Marine base, another facet of the realignment plan.

According to an opinion poll conducted at the weekend by the liberal Asahi Shimbun daily, a majority of Japanese believe that local sentiment should be considered in any relocation proposals.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said that local approval should be a pre-requisite for any relocation, against 27 percent who said that such relocation should be carried out according to the judgment of the national government.

Japan is also being asked to foot a large part of the bill to move several thousand Marines from Okinawa to Guam, which 78 percent of respondents said they ''could not understand.'' REUTERS PR RN1146