Japan warns U.S. over Okinawa gunfire

Japan warns U.S. over Okinawa gunfire

TOKYO (Reuter): The United States military's accidental firing of uranium-tipped bullets near Okinawa could cause "fissures" in relations with Japan, chief government spokesman Seiroku Kajiyama said yesterday.

As fallout from the incident grew, Kajiyama also berated Japan's Foreign Ministry for failing to swiftly notify Okinawan authorities about the mishap, which has become a new rallying cry for critics who want to close U.S. bases in Japan.

In what has become a public relations disaster for U.S. troops in Japan, U.S. Marine Corps AV-8V Harrier jets inadvertently fired the bullets during drills in December 1995 and January 1996.

The U.S. military has said bullets containing depleted uranium had been incorrectly labeled as armor-piercing ammunition and were used by mistake. The exercise took place on a deserted coral island 90 kilometers from Okinawa island.

"I fear this will set back the solution of the Okinawa problem and result in fissures in the Japan-U.S. relationship," Kajiyama told a news conference.

The Foreign Ministry was informed by U.S. authorities of the inadvertent firing of the 1,520 bullets on Jan. 15, but did not inform Okinawan authorities until Feb. 10, following a report in a U.S. daily newspaper.

"I feel anger at the obtuseness of the Foreign Ministry," said Kajiyama, adding he sympathized with Okinawan anger at what he said was the latest in a series of mishaps and misdeeds by U.S. forces stationed there.

Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda told parliament the delay was because the ministry needed to get more information from Washington.

"I regret we did not move promptly and that insufficient consideration was given to the people of Okinawa," he said.

The Pentagon itself waited a year before telling Tokyo, saying the U.S. government was not required to notify the Japanese unless there were health risks.

A U.S. team assessed the environmental and health impact of the accidental use of the radioactive bullets, in which depleted uranium helps pierce armor, and found there were no risks, U.S. authorities have said.

The incident comes after a year of friction between Tokyo and Okinawa over the heavy concentration of U.S. bases on the tiny island 1,600 km southwest of Tokyo. Half of the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan are stationed on Okinawa.

The coming months are especially sensitive as Tokyo is in the midst of a dispute with some Okinawan landlords who have refused to renew leases for land used by U.S. military bases.

The leases with about 3,000 landowners expire May 14. Okinawan antipathy to the U.S. bases, which occupy about one-fifth of the sub-tropical island, exploded in September 1995 after the rape of a local schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen.