Pressure builds over Okinawa 'rape'

The car park where the alleged rape took place

The Japanese Foreign Ministry has summoned the US charge d'affaires in Tokyo to demand that a US airman suspected of raping a Japanese woman in Okinawa be handed over to police.

This whole thing really makes me angry - things were getting better, now this

Marine sergeant Marvin Narciso

The US diplomat, Richard Christianson, said his government would make a decision after carefully examining the allegations.

Police identified the suspect as a Timothy B Woodland, a 24-year-old staff sergeant stationed at Kadena air base.

If the US side agrees to the Japanese demand, Mr Woodland could be turned over to Okinawan police as early as Tuesday.

The suspect has denied the charges, but the police say they have fingerprint evidence linking him to the crime.

They also have accounts from witnesses, including some of the suspect's companions.

This kind of crime is extremely deplorable and should never have happened

Japanese Foreign Minister
Makiko Tanaka

The sergeant was earlier quoted by a Japanese news agency as telling police: "I had sex with the woman, but it was consensual, and I did not assault or threaten her."

Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka renewed her protest over the alleged rape.

"This kind of crime is extremely deplorable and should never have happened," she said in a statement.

Anger

The incident has rekindled antipathy toward the huge US military presence in Okinawa and threatens to sour relations following the weekend summit between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George W Bush at Camp David.

The police say they now have fingerprint evidence

Mr Koizumi, who is visiting the United States, Britain and France, said: "I hope the two countries will find a solution through calm discussion, bearing in mind each other's public sentiment."

Politicians in Okinawa have expressed anger and frustration at continuing crimes by US forces, 25,000 of whom are stationed on the island.

The governor of Okinawa has called for a reduction in US troops and asked for a revision to a US-Japan military pact that prevents American servicemen from being handed to local police except when the crime is serious.

Local people havbe been angered by a string of sexual attacks by US servicemen, including the 1995 gang-rape of a 12-year-old girl.

The US says the Okinawa bases, within striking distance of China and the Korean Peninsula, are essential for its security strategy in Asia and the Pacific.