Over 20,000 residents of Japan city demand withdrawal of US base
09:30, 9 November 2009
ASTANA. November 9. KAZINFORM More than 20,000 residents in the city of Ginowan on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa took to the streets on Sunday to demand that authorities should prod Washington to close down immediately the U.S. base of Futemma and to withdraw it from the city; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.
Mayor Yoichi Iha said in his speech before citizens that "island residents rather than the Pentagon should decide the fate of this U.S. military facility".
In 2006, Tokyo and Washington agreed, under the project of reorganising the American military presence in Japan, to shift the Futemma base from the city of Ginowan to another less populated area of the island. However, the new government, led by Premier Yukio Hatoyama, formed in mid-September, regards it necessary to speed up the plan, taking into account the wishes of local population; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
Source: www.itar-tass,.com