U.S. envoy offers apology over Okinawa rape case

STATUS OF FORCES

Earlier in the day, Nakaima called for changes in an agreement on the status of U.S. troops in Japan, and opposition lawmakers met Schieffer to make a similar demand.

Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), U.S. military personnel suspected of crimes need not be handed over to Japanese authorities until they are charged.

But after the 1995 rape, Washington agreed to favorably consider handing over suspects in serious cases such as rape and murder even if they had not been charged. Hadnott has not been charged but was taken into Japanese custody.

Japanese media forecast the incident would hamper efforts to win residents' support for the Futenma transfer, which is part of a broader plan to move about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.

"It would not be an exaggeration to say the anger and mistrust of the Okinawa people against the U.S. military ... is at a peak," said an editorial in the Asahi newspaper.

Two local assemblies on the island adopted a joint protest resolution on Wednesday, Kyodo said, and civic group Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence has sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush calling for the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel.

Many Okinawans resent the bases, though others welcome the boost the U.S. military presence provides to the local economy.

Okinawa has long had uneasy ties with the rest of Japan.  Continued...