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Hostility to U.S. navy presence in Japan rises

Justin McCurry

Tokyo: Japanese police were on Friday night questioning an American sailor about the murder of a local woman in a case that is likely to boost opposition to the presence of thousands of U.S. troops in Japan.

Unconfirmed Japanese media reports said the 21-year-old sailor, who has not been named, admitted killing Yoshie Sato as she walked to work early on Tuesday in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. Sato (56) was beaten to death during what appears to have been a botched attempt to steal her handbag, investigators said.

U.S. military officials on Friday attempted to defuse anger over the death, imposing a midnight curfew at Yokosuka naval base, where the suspect was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. The U.S. navy said in a statement: ``The entire navy community in Japan is deeply saddened by this incident and will immediately implement a period of reflection to collectively demonstrate sympathy for the tragic loss of life.''

The decision to hand the sailor over to Japanese police so early in the investigation is also significant; under an agreement between Tokyo and Washington, the U.S. military can hold on to crime suspects in its ranks until Japanese authorities produce evidence to indict them.

Aircraft carrier

Nevertheless, Sato's murder is expected to fuel local opposition to plans to base a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan for the first time when the conventionally powered Kitty Hawk leaves Yokosuka for good in 2008.

Criticism of errant servicemen intensified last month after three Japanese schoolboys were injured by a U.S. sailor in a hit-and-run incident at the nearby Atsugi base. But the impact of this week's murder is expected to be felt most on the southern island of Okinawa, home to almost all of the 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan and where the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen in 1995 brought tens of thousands of people on to the streets in protest. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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