Japan to speed decision on relocation of US base

Japan will speed up its review of a deal to move a major U.S. military base on the southern island of Okinawa, officials said Thursday, but no final decision was expected in time for President Barack Obama's visit to Tokyo next week.

To smooth the way for the visit, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Washington's top envoy in Asia, was in Tokyo on Thursday to meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to discuss the leaders' agenda.

"We are making our best efforts to find the most appropriate solutions to the base allocation issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura said. "We are accelerating the review process."

He said, however, he could not say when a decision might be announced.

Although the leaders are expected to discuss a broad range of issues, from climate change to Japan's assistance to Afghanistan, the base issue is likely to dominate during Obama's Nov. 12-13 visit.

Washington and Tokyo agreed in 2006 under Japan's previous administration that the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma would be relocated to another part of Okinawa, and 8,000 Marines transferred from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam by 2014.

Japan's new government, however, has not yet committed to the deal. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama suggested before he took office in September that the base should be moved off Okinawa, but the U.S. simply wants it relocated to a less crowded area of the island.

The United States has about 47,000 troops in Japan under a mutual security pact, more than half on Okinawa.

Hatoyama's government has said it wants to adopt a more independent, less subservient relationship with Washington - while still stressing the two nations' security alliance remained the "cornerstone" of Japan's diplomacy.

Cabinet members within the Hatoyama administration have said sometimes conflicting things about the base relocation issue, underlining growing pains for the young government, which came to power after decades of virtual one-party rule by the staunchly pro-U.S. Liberal Democratic Party.

Two weeks ago in Tokyo, Defense Secretary Robert Gates took a tough stance, insisting that any alternatives to the 2006 agreement were untenable and urged Japan to resolve the Futenma issue before Obama's visit - but Hatoyama has said he is in no rush to do so.

Campbell took a softer tone.

"We are extraordinarily pleased with the preparations (for Obama's trip) and excited about the next phase of our relationship," he said in brief comments to reporters after his meeting with Okada. "We are fully committed to this alliance and working very well together."