A US soldier in Japan has apologised over a deadly hit-and-run accident, his lawyer said Friday, in a high-profile case that comes amid a bilateral row over American military bases. The soldier "is now getting to realise that he hit the person and said he feels sorry", Toshimitsu Takaesu, the lawyer of the unidentified 27-year-old army staff sergeant, said in comments shown on Japanese television.
Japanese police have questioned the serviceman over the death of a 66-year-old-man on southern Okinawa island on November 7, while the government has asked the United States to step up co-operation in the investigation. The US army has taken into custody, but not handed over to Japanese police, the soldier who allegedly took a car to a garage on the day of the accident to repair a broken windshield stained with blood.
According to Takaesu, police have said they have found blood and hair with the victim's DNA on the damaged car. On Thursday, Japan's new centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has pledged a "more equal" relationship with Washington, told reporters the US military should hand over the soldier.
"I wish they would cooperate to solve the case quickly," Hatoyama said. "The Okinawan people's frustration will only grow if the case drags on." The United States has about 47,000 troops based in Japan, more than half of them on Okinawa, where their heavy presence, the military aircraft noise and pollution have often rankled with local residents.
Hatoyama, who took office in September, has pledged to review the previously agreed relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, hinting the base may have to be moved off Okinawa or even out of Japan. He has also said Japan wants to review an agreement on the powers Japanese police have over US service members suspected of crimes. US soldiers are now usually handed over only after indictments are issued by Japanese police.
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