Okinawan Official Calls for CurfewJapanese Okinawa's mayor lodged a new protest with the U.S. military, calling Monday for the United States to reinstate tough new curfews on its troops stationed in Japan as a way to curb crime.Resentment has been rising among local residents toward U.S. soldiers, who have been involved in a series of crimes on the island. A 24-year-old U.S. airman was arrested last week on accusations of raping a Japanese woman in Okinawa. At a meeting with Brig. Gen. Gary North, commander of Kaneda Air Base, Okinawa Mayor Masakazu Nakasone urged a midnight curfew, according to Kiyoshi Akamine, an Okinawa city government official. ``The U.S. military has been claiming that they are making disciplinary actions, but crimes are still being committed,'' he quoted Nakasone as saying. North responded that the crimes were committed by only a few and he had no intention of imposing a blanket curfew, Akamine said. |
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