THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NAHA, JAPAN LENGTH: 27 lines
Okinawans voted more than 10-1 on Sunday in favor of a reduction of U.S. military bases on their islands, in a referendum aimed at pressuring Washington to pull out its troops.
With virtually all of the ballots counted late Sunday night, more than 90 percent of voters said that there were too many U.S. troops on their southern islands, and that an agreement giving the troops special legal status should be changed.
With 97 percent of the votes counted, 469,770 were for the reduction of the bases and only 43,672 against. Okinawa, which has a population of 1.2 million people, has just under 910,000 voters.
Sunday's referendum was not legally binding, but it was being closely watched by officials in Tokyo and Washington as a gauge of public sentiment regarding one of the world's most important security alliances.
The vote follows a year of increased tensions between Okinawans and the nearly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed here. Such tensions are endemic, but they erupted into the worst anti-base demonstrations ever after three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old girl on Sept. 4 of last year. by CNB