 Ginowan mayor appeals to foreign media Ginowan City Mayor Iha Yoichi on September 8 spoke at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) and emphasized that the return of the U.S. Futenma base site to the city is the earnest demand of citizens. Iha said that 35 municipalities in Okinawa have adopted resolutions calling for a review of the 1996 Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) agreement and that a rally in protest against a crash of a U.S. military helicopter at a university campus will be held with the attendance of local assembly members. "The crash is changing many Okinawans' opinions to the base closing," Iha pointed out. Referring to the possibility that a U.S. Congressional committee on U.S. military bases abroad will come to inspect the U.S. Futenma base in October, Iha said, "I want to make a situation that compels the U.S. to deal seriously with the Futenma issue." Criticizing the Okinawa prefectural government as well as the Japanese government for clinging to the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko District of Nago City, Iha said, "The major obstacles are, however, the governments of Okinawa and Japan." (end) |