Japan unhappy over planned foreign troop exercise
Updated
![The US military base in Okinawa has been a source of tensions with the locals. [Reuters]](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/img/news/base/japan_okinawa_rtr_020506.jpg "The US military base in Okinawa has been a source of tensions with the locals. [Reuters]")
The US military base in Okinawa has been a source of tensions with the locals. [Reuters]
Locals on Japan's southern island of Okinanwa say they are not happy with the possibility of foreign forces staging jungle training exercises on their island.
In May military liaison officers from Germany, Israel, Japan and the Netherlands visited a US Marine jungle warfare training centre in Okinawa to explore the possiblilty of future training sessions there.
The Japanese government would have to approve any plans for non-US foreign personnel to use the facility.
Kyodo news agency reports locals fear such training sessions could strengthen US base functions and run counter to an agreement to cut the US military presence on the island.
Tension between the US military and the locals has been rife in Okinawa which is home to more than half of the 40,000 US troops in Japan.
