May 10 04:10 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - TOKYO, May 10 (Kyodo)
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has likely given up on settling the issue of the relocation of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa Prefecture by his self-imposed May 31 deadline amid fierce opposition from local residents to moving it within the prefecture, government sources said Monday.
Hatoyama held a meeting earlier in the day with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and other officials to try to form a final direction on the fate of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.
Hatoyama has reneged on his promise to gain approval from both local residents and Washington by the end of this month and will instead focus on negotiations with the United States to make a breakthrough on the stalled issue that has soured bilateral relations since Hatoyama took office last September, the sources said.
The Democratic Party of Japan-led government is seeking to relocate most of the Futenma functions to a new pile-supported facility to be built off the coast of the Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, another Okinawa city -- a modification of an existing deal agreed to in 2006 by a Liberal Democratic Party government and the United States.
To ease the burden of hosting U.S. military bases on Okinawa, the government is also aiming to transfer some drills conducted at Futenma to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, about 200 kilometers northeast from Okinawa, although the mayors of the three towns on the island last week made it clear that they will not accept the plan when they met with the premier in Tokyo.
Okinawa, which hosts a majority of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, is also decisively against having any of the Futenma functions remain inside the prefecture, urging the prime minister to fulfill his promise made before last year's general election to move the facility outside Okinawa altogether.
Hatoyama denied again earlier in the day that he would extend his deadline despite some Cabinet members advising him to do so, in an apparent attempt to save him from feeling pressured to resign from the post of prime minister if he fails to come to a conclusion that can satisfy the public by the end of this month.
Speaking at a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano acknowledged that it would not be easy for the government to decide on the technical details of the relocation plan by the end of this month.
But he added that the government is trying to win over locals and come up with some sort of a "political solution" with a certain "direction" on where Futenma should be relocated.
The top government spokesman has not elaborated on what could constitute a "solution," securing an escape route for the government that has seen a plunge in support ratings because of the base relocation dispute.
Under the 2006 deal, Tokyo and the United States agreed to reclaim land from the sea off the coast of Camp Schwab in a less crowded area to relocate Futenma there with the aim of reducing the base-hosting burden on Okinawa and removing risks posed to local residents by the Marines' facility.
The governments are set to hold the second round of working-level talks on the issue in Washington on Wednesday.
Hatoyama apparently intends to make utmost efforts to win local agreement after formulating a certain direction with the United States, according to the sources.
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