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Half of U.S. Marines to leave Okinawa

Withdrawal follows years of complaints from local residents

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon has yielded to demands from residents on the Japanese island of Okinawa and committed to cut the number of U.S. Marines in the country by nearly half.

The announcement from the Pentagon came Saturday and stated that the United States and Japan had agreed to shift 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam during the next six years. There are 14,460 U.S. Marines in Japan, and almost all of them are stationed in Okinawa.

About 47,000 troops from all U.S. military branches are in Japan, and most of those also are in Okinawa.

Earlier in the week, Japan and the United States agreed to close the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the crowded southern part of Okinawa and move its functions to Camp Schwab in the north, according to The Associated Press.

Local residents have held widespread protests periodically during the past decade in response to U.S. military personnel committing crimes.

Protests boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen were found guilty of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl.

Since 1995, U.S. service members have been convicted at least five times on sexual assault charges. An airman was convicted of rape in 2002.

In July, Okinawa police in July charged another U.S. airman following the molestation of a 10-year-old girl in a parking lot. Sgt. Armando Valdez, 27, later pleaded guilty, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported.

Saturday's announcement followed talks among U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinori Ono and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.

Rumsfeld told a news conference Saturday that the United States and Japan "agreed to findings and recommendations to strengthen the alliance and reduce the impact of U.S. military on local communities."

Ono said the agreement represented a "transformation of the alliance" between the two countries that will provide it with "a fresh start and new energy."

Both sides affirmed plans for closer military cooperation, sharing intelligence, and expanding training opportunities in deterring and defending against ballistic missile attacks. They also pledged to dissuade other nations from development and proliferation of ballistic missiles.

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