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Local heads and residents jointly call for U.S. force relocation plan to be canceled

The Hiroshima Prefectural Liaison Council against the Strengthening of the Iwakuni Base on January 18 decided to demand that the Japanese and U.S. governments withdraw their plan to relocate a carrier-borne aircraft unit from the U.S. Atsugi Naval Air Facility in Kanagawa Prefecture to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, located in west of Hiroshima.

The Council is composed of mayors and assembly chairs of Hatsukaichi, Otake, Etajima, Hiroshima, and Miyoshi cities. Mayors of Iwakuni City and Yu Town in Yamaguchi Prefecture take part in it as observers.

At this year's first meeting of the council in Hatsukaichi City, some participants expressed doubts about the national government's contour map showing areas around the Iwakuni Base where the aircraft unit is expected to cause noise pollution because it excluded Miyajima, a World Heritage site, from those areas.

In the meeting, the Residents' Association of Western Hiroshima against the Strengthening of Iwakuni Base became an official member of the Liaison Council.

Shibata Moyuru, a Christian clergyman representing the Association, introduced its activities including holding small study meetings to help residents understand the relocation issues.
- Akahata, January 19, 2006