Deployment of the controversial U.S. Osprey military aircraft at an American airbase in Japan's Okinawa island is likely to be delayed in the context of increasing public concern over its safety.
This was indicated by Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto on Wednesday while meeting with Yoshihiko Fukuda, the mayor of Iwakuni city in Yamaguchi prefecture where a dozen Ospreys are currently being held ahead of their deployment in the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.
Operations of the Osprey transport aircraft at Futenma may not begin early next month as originally scheduled, Japanese media quoted Morimoto as saying.
Talks between Japan and the U.S. over the deployment may take another week or two, he said adding that the U.S. would begin transferring Ospreys to Okinawa after about two weeks of trial flights at Iwakuni. Ospreys may start operations in Okinawa sometime next month, but it is unlikely to be early in the month.
Fukuda said flights of the aircraft should not be allowed unless the safety concerns of local residents were alleviated.
Tens of thousands of Japanese people staged protest rallies in Okinawa as well as outside the Diet (Japanese Parliament) building in Tokyo on Sunday urging the Pentagon and the Japanese government to drop the plan to deploy Ospreys in a crowded island like Okinawa.
Protesters joined by Mayor Atsushi Sakima of the city of Ginowan, where the Futenma Air Station is located, demanded the United States and Japan immediately scrap plans to deploy a dozen MV-22 Ospreys and shut down the Futenma base in the crowded city.
"We refuse to accept a deployment of Osprey that has already proven so dangerous. Who is going to take responsibility if they crash onto a populated neighborhood? Sakima asked.
Japanese people's concern over the safety of the Bell Boeing-made aircraft arise out of recent crashes involving the tilt-rotor aircraft, one resulting in the death of two U.S. airmen in the West African country of Morocco in April. Another variant of the aircraft crashed in June in the U.S. state of Florida, injuring five crew members, although U.S. officials said the accident was not due to mechanical problems. Concerns heightened further when an MV-22 made an emergency landing in a residential area outside a Marine base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Thursday last.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima said he would further press the Japanese and U.S. governments to ensure the safety of the aircraft which can take off like a helicopter and fly like an airplane.
Participants at Sunday's rally adopted a resolution calling cancellation of Osprey deployment in Japan. They said they felt anxiety and anger more than ever before.
Okinawa's elected representatives have also plans to meet Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Morimoto in Tokyo on Thursday seeking a review of Osprey deployment in Japan, a staunch U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific which hosts more than 50,000 American soldiers on its soil.
Noda is reported to have conveyed to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Japan's concerns over Osprey's safety on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Summit in Russia on Saturday.
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