Marine charged over Okinawa schoolgirl attack

An American marine has been charged with molesting a schoolgirl on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.

A US military official said the marine, nineteen-year-old Kenny Titcomb, is being held in custody on suspicion of attacking the fourteen-year-old girl while she slept in her bedroom on the third of July.

Correspondents say the incident fuelled anti-American feelings in Okinawa -- home to tens of thousands of US troops.

Last month, thousands of people staged demonstrations ahead of the G-Eight summit held there.

In 1995 the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by three American servicemen led to popular demands for the removal of all US military bases in Japan.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service