Japan official: Buildup a go

Futenma base talks suspended

BY AMRITHA ALLADI • PACIFIC DAILY NEWS AALLADI@GUAMPDN.COM

Theagreement to lighten the presence of U.S. troops in Okinawa and move some of them to Guam will proceed as planned and on schedule, despite the suspension of talks between the United States and Japan regarding the relocation of the Futenma Marine Corps air base, Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said during his visit to the island yesterday.

"At this moment, we aren't seeing any delay," Kitazawa said through an interpreter at a brief press conference at the Hyatt Regency Guam in Tumon yesterday.

However, talks between the United States and Japan regarding the relocation of the Futenma base have been suspended with no restart date planned as of yet, according to The Associated Press. Kitazawa said yesterday he didn't know when the Futenma relocation issue would be resolved.

Relocating the Futenma base from the southern to the northern part of Okinawa is a step toward executing parts of the 2006 U.S-Japan agreement that includes reducing the number of U.S. Marinesthere by almost half and moving 8,000 of them to Guam.

Both sides finalized the agreement in February, when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japan's then-Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone signed the pact, which spells out Japan's $6 billion of the $10 billion estimate to move the Marines to Guam.

Kitazawa visitedGuam to see the location for the proposed transfer of Marines from Okinawa, according to a press release from Gov. Felix Camacho's office. He visited Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam, and received briefings on the vital role Guam plays in hosting the U.S. Air Force and Navy to ensure stability and security throughout the Pacific theater, according to officials from the Joint Guam Program Office.

On Guam, the military's buildup plans go beyond building a Marine base. The United States also plans to build an Army missile defense facility, facilities for recurring visits of an aircraft carrier, and expansions to the existing U.S. Air Force and Navy bases -- a buildup tab of more than $15 billion, according to previously released federal government estimates.