WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 KYODOJapan's Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga urged U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a meeting Tuesday to make some compromises in ongoing talks on realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nukaga refused to specify what matters Japan wants the United States to compromise on, but said the two defense chiefs agreed to accelerate working-level talks to draft a unified implementation plan, possibly by the end of this month, in order to begin seeking local support before finalizing the plan by March.
Nukaga said he and Rumsfeld also agreed to discuss whether the two nations can issue a Nukaga-proposed ''political message,'' along with the final realignment accord in March, on the shape of the bilateral security alliance over the next 10-20 years after its transformation over the past 10 years into a global one.
On Japan's deployment of ground troops in Iraq, which has been extended for a year until Dec. 14, Nukaga indicated that Japan will decide when to withdraw them or whether to assign a new non-security mission there in line with what Britain and Australia do with the troops they have in charge of security operations in the Samawah area where the Japanese troops are carrying out rehabilitation work.
Nukaga, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, also met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who also underlined their commitments to realizing the realignment, Japanese officials said.
His visit came after the two nations held a senior working-level meeting last week in Washington and discussed draft detailed plans tabled by the United States for implementing a realignment agreement reached last October.
The October accord, which Tokyo regards as interim and which Washington sees as final, calls for crafting an implementation plan by March. It highlighted the removal of 7,000 U.S. Marine Corps troops in Okinawa, including 6,000 to Guam, and an alternative plan for relocating the Marines' Futemma Air Station within the prefecture.
But Okinawa and other affected local communities remain strongly opposed to the accord and have vowed to fight it.
Nukaga said he told Rumsfeld that a ''certain U.S. compromise is needed along with Japan's efforts'' in order to achieve a successful realignment, while stressing the importance of minimizing burdens on base-hosting local communities to win their support.
Rumsfeld called for prompt Japanese action to realize the U.S. military reconfiguration, emphasizing that ''speed and timing'' are the most important factors, according to Nukaga and Japanese officials.
On his proposal for a ''political message,'' Nukaga said it should reflect the realignment accord and the developments in the security alliance since the two nations issued a joint security declaration 10 years ago and underlined their alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.
Nukaga noted Japan's legislative actions to implement the bilateral defense guidelines that were based on the security declaration as well as various other measures hammered out to enable more global contributions such the dispatch of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.
But on the SDF's mission in Iraq, Nukaga ruled out the possibility of the Japanese troops engaging in security operations, saying he emphasized to Rumsfeld that Japan's current law does not allow such a duty.
Referring to Britain's plan to reduce its troops in Iraq if security operations can be transferred to Iraqi forces, Nukaga said, ''We must consider the SDF's assistance based on such a development.''
In the October accord, the two nations upgraded their security relations to a global alliance and agreed to further integrate and share operations between the U.S. military and the SDF.
At the onset of the talks at the U.S. Defense Department, Nukaga expressed Japan's strong disappointment about the murder of a 56-year-old woman allegedly by an arrested U.S. Navy sailor in early January in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, the defense chief said.
Nukaga said he called for Rumsfeld's commitment to implement preventive measures and stricter discipline, while the U.S. defense chief expressed his deep regret over the incident.
==Kyodo
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