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Rumsfeld, Japanese finance ministers resume talks on US troops in Japan
Tokyo, Nov 15: US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld met with Japanese foreign minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and the two agreed to try and resume stalled talks on the legal status of US troops in Japan, a US official said.
Tokyo, Nov 15: US Secretary of Defence Donald
Rumsfeld met with Japanese foreign minister Yoriko
Kawaguchi and the two agreed to try and resume stalled talks
on the legal status of US troops in Japan, a US official said.
Rumsfeld emphasised that negotiations on the Status
of Forces Agreement (SOFA) should be reopened in the near
future, a senior US defence official said.
"They both agreed on the importance of resolving this issue," he added.
Negotiations were suspended in August after the talks reached an impasse over the issue of whether US service members accused of serious crimes would be turned over to the Japanese legal authorities before they are formally indicted. The US wants service members to be afforded the same legal protection in Japan that they would have in the United States, including the right to a have a lawyer present during questioning.
The Japanese have argued that American service members should be treated no differently from Japanese citizens.
The issue of the US military presence in Okinawa also came up in Rumsfeld's talks with the foreign minister as it did the evening before when he met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Koizumi emphasized the importance of Okinawa, where three quarters of the estimated 47,000 US troops in Japan are stationed, and which is a hotbed of anti-US sentiment.
The US presence there has been a source of controversy since the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three US marines. Bureau Report
"They both agreed on the importance of resolving this issue," he added.
Negotiations were suspended in August after the talks reached an impasse over the issue of whether US service members accused of serious crimes would be turned over to the Japanese legal authorities before they are formally indicted. The US wants service members to be afforded the same legal protection in Japan that they would have in the United States, including the right to a have a lawyer present during questioning.
The Japanese have argued that American service members should be treated no differently from Japanese citizens.
The issue of the US military presence in Okinawa also came up in Rumsfeld's talks with the foreign minister as it did the evening before when he met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Koizumi emphasized the importance of Okinawa, where three quarters of the estimated 47,000 US troops in Japan are stationed, and which is a hotbed of anti-US sentiment.
The US presence there has been a source of controversy since the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three US marines. Bureau Report