Japanese PM denies Futenma air base to be relocated to Tokunoshima

TOKYO, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Tuesday denied that his government was considering relocating the U.S. Futenma air base from Okinawa to Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture.

An article in the Sankei Shimbun newspaper on Tuesday said that Hatoyama had ordered a panel to study the feasibility of relocating the U.S. military facility to Tokunoshima.

"The report does not go beyond speculation and it is not true," the prime minister said. "We have not yet reached a final decision. "

Tokunoshima is in 200 km north of Okinawa.

The coalition government led by the Democratic Party of Japan is currently looking for places to relocate tens of thousands of U. S. military personnel after coming to a decision that a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Washington and Tokyo in 2006 was not feasible. Under that plan, the Futenma facility would have been moved out of an urban area and into a less crowded part of southern island of Okinawa.

Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. State Department announced that Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell had cancelled a trip to Japan scheduled for Wednesday amid speculation that negotiations between the two nations had reached a stalemate, according to reports from local media.

When asked about the matter, Hatoyama said that the government had no information about why the trip had been canceled.