thedrifter
01-23-06, 06:45 AM
Japan crime case challenges ties: US general
Mon Jan 23, 3:55 AM ET
Reuters
A case in which a U.S. sailor is under arrest on suspicion of killing a Japanese woman has "significantly challenged" the alliance between the two nations, the top commander of the U.S. military in Japan said on Monday.
U.S. Seaman William Reese, 21, was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of killing and robbing Yoshie Sato, 56, in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on January 3.
The case could complicate efforts by Japan and the United States to hammer out a deal with Japanese local communities to allow the reorganization of U.S. bases in Japan, part of a global effort to make the American forces more flexible.
"This alliance has just been significantly challenged," Lieutenant General Bruce Wright told a news conference, calling the crime "horrific."
Japanese media reports have said Reese, based on aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, confessed to the killing. Sato was found bleeding and unconscious and died from internal injuries.
Wright said commanders of the U.S. navy, army, air force and Marines in Japan would meet on February 10 to discuss how to work with Japanese authorities to "achieve our goal of zero criminal incidents involving U.S forces in Japan."
The U.S. military had quickly handed over Reese to Japanese police.
A U.S.-Japan pact governing the conduct of U.S. military personnel in Japan does not require the transfer of American military suspects until they are charged.
But after the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. servicemen on the island of Okinawa, Washington agreed to give favorable consideration to pre-indictment transfers in cases concerning heinous crimes such as rape and murder.
Wright sidestepped questions on the impact of the election of a new mayor of Nago City on Okinawa on U.S.-Japan efforts to finalize a deal on reorganizing U.S. military forces in Japan, including relocating Futenma Marine Corps air base.
The deal calls for relocating the Futenma air base to Nago from Ginowan, in central Okinawa. But many residents of Okinawa, host to about half the U.S. military presence in Japan, want the facility moved off the island altogether.
Nago's mayor-elect Yoshikazu Shimabukuro said on Monday he was ready to hold talks with the central government on the plan if Tokyo made changes acceptable to the local community, Kyodo news agency reported on Monday, a day after the election.
"We've had a long-standing, established level of communication with all our mayors," Wright said. "So I think I'm confident that we will seek to establish very open communication lines with the new mayor, as we have with all the mayors."
Ellie
Mon Jan 23, 3:55 AM ET
Reuters
A case in which a U.S. sailor is under arrest on suspicion of killing a Japanese woman has "significantly challenged" the alliance between the two nations, the top commander of the U.S. military in Japan said on Monday.
U.S. Seaman William Reese, 21, was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of killing and robbing Yoshie Sato, 56, in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, on January 3.
The case could complicate efforts by Japan and the United States to hammer out a deal with Japanese local communities to allow the reorganization of U.S. bases in Japan, part of a global effort to make the American forces more flexible.
"This alliance has just been significantly challenged," Lieutenant General Bruce Wright told a news conference, calling the crime "horrific."
Japanese media reports have said Reese, based on aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, confessed to the killing. Sato was found bleeding and unconscious and died from internal injuries.
Wright said commanders of the U.S. navy, army, air force and Marines in Japan would meet on February 10 to discuss how to work with Japanese authorities to "achieve our goal of zero criminal incidents involving U.S forces in Japan."
The U.S. military had quickly handed over Reese to Japanese police.
A U.S.-Japan pact governing the conduct of U.S. military personnel in Japan does not require the transfer of American military suspects until they are charged.
But after the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl by three U.S. servicemen on the island of Okinawa, Washington agreed to give favorable consideration to pre-indictment transfers in cases concerning heinous crimes such as rape and murder.
Wright sidestepped questions on the impact of the election of a new mayor of Nago City on Okinawa on U.S.-Japan efforts to finalize a deal on reorganizing U.S. military forces in Japan, including relocating Futenma Marine Corps air base.
The deal calls for relocating the Futenma air base to Nago from Ginowan, in central Okinawa. But many residents of Okinawa, host to about half the U.S. military presence in Japan, want the facility moved off the island altogether.
Nago's mayor-elect Yoshikazu Shimabukuro said on Monday he was ready to hold talks with the central government on the plan if Tokyo made changes acceptable to the local community, Kyodo news agency reported on Monday, a day after the election.
"We've had a long-standing, established level of communication with all our mayors," Wright said. "So I think I'm confident that we will seek to establish very open communication lines with the new mayor, as we have with all the mayors."
Ellie