THE Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Ryutaro Hashimoto, yesterday signed documents renewing leases needed to maintain US military bases on Japan's southernmost island of Okinawa.
Mr Hashimoto was forced to sign the documents to renew the leases for US military bases on Okinawa after the governor of the subtropical island adamantly refused to do so.
On Monday Governor Masahide Ota, fighting a legal battle against the prime minister, was order by the Fukuoka High Court in the capital of Okinawa to sign the leases.
Mr Ota formally rejected the court order yesterday.
The rape of a schoolgirl on Okinawa by three US servicemen last September sparked fierce protests against the US military presence on the island, home to about 75 per cent of the US military facilities and nearly half the 47,000 US service personnel in Japan.
Okinawans have long complained about the heavy concentration of US bases on the island, about 625 miles south of Tokyo.
Earlier this month, a Japanese court sentenced the US servicemen to up to seven years jail for the abduction and rape of the 12 year old girl.
Two of the servicemen are appealing against their sentences.
US Japan security ties are likely to be high on the agenda when President Clinton visits Tokyo to meet Japanese leaders next month.