Japan urges Russia to free boat crew after shooting

TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) Japan is urging Russia to release the three remaining crew members of a fishing boat seized after a Russian patrol boat fired on their vessel and a Japanese fisherman died, a foreign ministry official said today.

The death of the fisherman in Wednesday's incident, which took place east of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, is thought to be the first fatality for 50 years in a territorial dispute dating back to the end of World War Two.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki has been sent to Moscow to resolve the issue, and another official has been sent to Hokkaido.

''We are strongly urging the Russian side to release the three crew members as well as return the body. This is very, very important,'' said Noriyuki Shikata, assistant press secretary at the Foreign Ministry.

He avoided comment on the potential for a long-term impact on ties between the two nations, stressing that Japan was at this time focused on the return of the body and the crew members.

Japanese media said a ship could depart for Russia to pick up the body of Mitsuhiro Morita as early as today, but there was no word on the other crew members.

Japan and Russia have been locked in a dispute over the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia, for decades.

The simmering feud has prevented them from signing a peace treaty more than 60 years after the end of World War Two.

The four islands, as close as 15 km from Hokkaido, were seized by the Soviet Union in the waning days of World War Two, forcing about 17,000 Japanese residents to flee.

Russia has said it is willing to hand over two islands, but Japan insists that all four must be returned.

Fishing disputes are common in the area, and Russian border patrols often try to capture Japanese fishermen. But the last time a Japanese fisherman was shot dead was in October 1956, by a Soviet vessel, Japanese officials said.

REUTERS PDS PM0729