By KUNA
Tokyo : Residents of the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa on Wednesday continued to express their anger over the alleged rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl by a US Marine, while the US ambassador to Japan traveled to the island to ease tension.
Earlier in the day, two city councils in Okinawa unanimously adopted a protest resolution and a statement against the US and Japanese governments, calling for measures to prevent a recurrence, an apology, and compensation for the victim.
“The incident is extremely heinous and unforgivable,” their statement said.
On Tuesday evening, a civic group held a protest rally in front of the US Marine Corps’ camp in Okinawa, where some 200 people attended the rally. A women’s group in the prefecture also plans to submit a letter of protest to US President George W. Bush.
Tyrone Hadnott, a 38-year-old staff sergeant at Camp Courtney base in Okinawa, was arrested Monday on suspicion of raping a local girl in a parked car Sunday night.
He was transferred to prosecutors from police custody Tuesday.
Hadnott admits touching the girl in his car but denies raping her, according to police.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer visited Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima to convey regret over the allegation and offer cooperation in the investigation.
The latest case rekindled tensions from a similar incident in 1995, when three US servicemen raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl, followed by months of massive anti-American protests across the island.
The protest moves eventually forced the Japanese and US governments to agree to relocate an airbase and vacate some other US facilities.
After Japan’s surrender in World War II, Okinawa had been under the control of the US Military until 1972. Japan, which has relied on the US to defend it for almost 60 years, hosts the largest concentration of US military in Asia, with more than 50,000 troops at bases throughout the country.
About 75 percent of all US military facilities in Japan are located in Okinawa, the nation’s poorest prefecture.
Last year, 46 US servicemen were arrested in Okinawa in connection with theft, arson, and other criminal cases.