Foreign Minister Yohei Kono will meet Sunday with Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine and other officials in Okinawa to discuss issues relating to the U.S. military presence in the prefecture, Kono said Friday.

Kono said after the day's Cabinet meeting that he will also meet Brig. Gen. Willie Williams, the No. 2 U.S. military commander in Okinawa.

Kono's visit comes at a time of growing criticism of the United States by Okinawa residents after a series of incidents involving U.S. military personnel, including arson attacks allegedly carried out by a U.S. Marine in the town of Chatan.

Kono will exchange views with Okinawa officials on various base issues, including stalled talks over the relocation of the U.S. Marines' Futenma Air Station to Nago, northern Okinawa. The plan is deadlocked because of Okinawa's demand for a 15-year time limit on the use of the new facility and the United States' opposition to that idea.

Kono also hopes to hear the opinions of Okinawans on the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which inhibits the handover of criminal suspects who are U.S. military personnel to Japanese authorities.

Kono earlier indicated that he may seek a revision of the pact to facilitate such handovers in the wake of the U.S. Marine Corps' refusal to turn over a U.S. serviceman suspected of involvement in the arson attacks in mid-January. The agreement, which mainly specifies the management and operations of U.S. military bases in Japan, also states that the U.S. military does not have to hand over suspects to Japanese authorities prior to indictment.

Kono also wants to talk with Okinawans about the planned relocation of the heliport functions of the Futenma facility and the 1996 Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa report.

SACO is a bilateral forum for discussions on the return of land occupied by U.S. forces in Okinawa. The 1996 report suggests that about 21 percent of the land occupied by the U.S. military in Okinawa be returned to Japan.

The report states that the Futenma base in Ginowan, central Okinawa, be returned within five to seven years if the heliport functions are relocated within the prefecture. Plans are under way for the functions to be shifted to an airport to be built in the Henoko district of Nago.

The foreign minister said he will not be able to meet the top U.S. commander in Okinawa, Lt. Gen. Earl Hailston, as he is currently away.

Night-landing drills

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) The U.S. Navy in Japan began four days of night-landing drills Friday at its Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture, with planes from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk taking part.

The navy decided to hold the drills at the Atsugi base because it could not complete them by Monday as scheduled if it only used Iwojima Island, navy officials said. The navy has been practicing night landings on the island since Feb. 17.

They said the U.S. Navy had told Japan it will use quieter aircraft, such as transport and antisubmarine patrol planes.

The municipal governments of Yamato and Ayase, which host the Atsugi base, said they were carefully watching the drills, including monitoring noise at some 10 locations around the base. The local governments have demanded the navy conduct night-landing exercises only on Iwojima.

The navy is conducting the drills before the Kitty Hawk, which uses its Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture as a de facto home port, leaves Yokosuka to conduct drills in March, the navy officials said.

It is the fourth time the U.S. military has carried out night-landing exercises at the Atsugi base since April. The two municipalities and residents have opposed the drills because of noise. Japanese defense officials said the drills at the Atsugi base are expected to last from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Several mayors from municipalities surrounding U.S. military facilities nationwide issued a joint statement January demanding the navy conduct all night-landing drills on Iwojima, which is remote and has special facilities for such exercises.

The mayors of Yamato and Ayase also signed the declaration.