May 26 03:49 AM US/Eastern
NAHA, Japan, May 26 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The Naha District Court recommended Wednesday that the state and two protesters settle their dispute over the construction of a helipad at a U.S. forces' training facility in Okinawa Prefecture.
The state has claimed the two men, who lead local protesters, have obstructed construction work at the facility straddling the northern villages of Kunigami and Higashi by sit-ins and has sought to have the court ban their obstruction of traffic.
At Wednesday's hearing, Presiding Judge Ryosuke Sakai said both sides should think over the issue while considering "whether a court ruling can resolve it."
Construction of the helipad started in 2007, and the state initially sought a provisional injunction to ban 14 residents from obstructing traffic, leading the Naha District Court to ban the sit-ins by the two protesters in December last year.
But after the two objected to the court's decision, the state filed the lawsuit in January.
The U.S. forces in Japan have decided to return part of the land used for the facility, prompting the need to relocate the helipad within it.
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