Japan has asked the United States to move some of its military units in Okinawa Prefecture to overseas locations as part of a global realignment plan for its forces, government sources said Thursday.
Tokyo proposed that the 3,000-member 4th Regiment of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa be moved out, the sources said.
The 4th Regiment has been in Iraq since February and the U.S. is considering not returning the regiment to Okinawa after the completion of its duties in the Middle Eastern country.