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.