US bases to dominate Obama Japan visit

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Updated November 9, 2009 13:01:39

The US President, Barack Obama heads off on his Asian tour this week, and he'll fly straight into a storm in Japan about American military bases.

Tens of thousands of Japanese have rallied on the main island of Okinawa to protest against a controversial US base, putting strain on one of Washington's key defence and security alliances. The new centre-left government in Tokyo says the issue will not be resolved before President Obama lands in Japan later this week.

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