Foreign and defence ministers of the United States and Japan met Monday to finalise plans for restructuring the American military presence in Japan, officials said.
The so called "two-plus-two" meeting is expected to endorse a package to implement an October accord over relocating a key US air base as well as troops from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
Japan is the top US ally in Asia and the two sides have since 2002 been negotiating details of the realignment, including giving Japan's military greater responsibility for security in the region.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defence Chief Fukushiro Nukaga are expected to make some brief remarks after their talks Monday, the State Department said.
The military realignment package, originally due to be finalised by the end of March, has been delayed by a dispute over sharing the cost of moving 8,000 US Marines from Okinawa to the US Pacific island of Guam.
Tokyo finally agreed to shoulder 59 percent of the 10.27 billion dollars for the relocation of the Marines and their 9,000 family members. Washington had initially demanded it pay 75 percent of the tab, which includes construction of housing.
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