US, Japan agree on military deal

Washington: Japan and the US on Monday approved details of a sweeping plan to realign US forces in Japan by 2014 while giving Japan's military greater responsibility for security in the Asia-Pacific.

"We have no better friend than Japan," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters after a meeting between the two countries' top defense and foreign ministers. "We share, most of all, values. But increasingly we share global responsibilities as well."

In a joint report, the countries made special mention of the burden faced by Japanese communities hosting US bases.

Locals, especially on the crowded island of Okinawa, often complain of the crime, accidents, land use and noise associated with the bases.

At the same time, the ministers underlined the importance they placed on the US-Japan relationship, calling it "the indispensable foundation of Japan's security and of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the linchpin of American security policy in the region."

The announcement is part of the biggest restructuring and streamlining of the US military in Japan in decades. A price tag for the plan's implementation was not released, but Japanese officials said their government would be responsible for most of the costs.

On Okinawa, the two sides agreed to relocate the US airfield at Futenma, with a target date of 2014. The operations will move to two new 1,800-meter-long (1970-yard-long), "V"-shaped runways, to be built in a less congested part of the island, to deal with safety, noise and environmental problems.

About 8,000 Marines and their 9,000 dependents will also move from Okinawa to Guam by 2014, the report said, with Japan providing about $6.1 billion of the nearly $10.3 billion.

Also by 2014, the report said officials aim to move a US carrier air wing from Atsugi Air Station, near Tokyo, to a base at Iwakuni - 450 miles southwest of Tokyo. Residents near Atsugi have complained of the noise.

Japanese Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga said the US-Japan alliance would be strengthened by the realignment efforts, noting that the plan to move US Marines to Guam "has been the long-cherished dream of the Okinawans."

An outline of the overall realignment plan was announced in October and was to be completed by the end of March. However, it bogged down over details.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that keeping the US-Japan alliance vital "requires constant investment of time and effort, as well as the allocation of resources sufficient to deliver on the promises that we have made together to our respective citizens."

Despite tension over the presence of US forces in certain Japanese communities, the two countries are close allies.

Under a mutual security pact, the US has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan. The presence includes more than 10,000 Marines, several air bases and the home port for the US Navy's Seventh Fleet.

Japan's Cabinet recently approved a six-month extension of its non-combat support for the US-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan. Japan has also deployed about 600 troops in southern Iraq on a non-combat, humanitarian mission.