Nago, Tokyo reach agreement on moving Futenma

The central government and the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, agreed Friday to build two runways at a U.S. airfield to be built in the city, ending a bitter battle over the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter base.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060408a2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='173'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Yoshikazu Shimabukuro –

, mayor of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, meets Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga ahead of their talks at the agency.

The deal, reached between Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga and Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro in Tokyo, brings the government a step closer to relocating the heliport functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station from downtown Ginowan, central Okinawa, to Cape Henoko in Nago. The feud over the military facility had been one of two major obstacles in the effort to finalize the United States' military realignment in Japan.