Author: dppdpp Date: Feb 10, 2008 21:29
TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of raping a
14-year-old Japanese girl in the southern Japanese prefecture of
Okinawa, police said on Monday, an incident that could strain ties
between the two security allies.
A spokesman for the Okinawa Prefecture police said the 38-year-old
Marine, based at Camp Courtney on the island, was suspected of raping
the schoolgirl on Sunday and that the two were in a car at the time.
Further details were under investigation, he added.
Kyodo news agency, quoting police, said the marine had denied raping
the girl, saying he had only got on top of her and kissed her.
Japan is home to some 50,000 U.S. troops, the bulk of them in Okinawa,
where many residents have long resented bearing what they see as an
unfair burden for maintaining the U.S.-Japan security alliance, a
pillar of Japan's post-war diplomacy.
"If this is a crime committed by a member of the U.S. military, it is
extremely regrettable and we urge you to maintain strict discipline
and prevent a recurrence," a Foreign Ministry statement quoted a
ministry official as telling a diplomat at the U.S. embassy.
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