OKINAWA CITY, Japan (AP) - A U.S. Air Force sergeant suspected of raping a woman on Okinawa island arrived at a police station here Friday, but the U.S. ambassador said talks on his handover were still under way.Police believe Timothy Woodland, a 24-year-old staff sergeant stationed at Okinawa's Kadena Air Base, raped a local woman in her 20s last week in the parking lot of a popular tourist area. Woodland has denied the allegations.
A U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that the U.S. government had agreed on a handover for arrest by Japanese authorities.
But U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker said that the deal had not yet been clinched.
``We are still working on the final details,'' Baker said in a statement. ``We are hopeful that we can resolve the issue yet today.''
Japanese authorities also refused to immediately confirm that Woodland was to be arrested on Friday.
Woodland would becomes only the second American serviceman turned over to Japanese authorities prior to the filing of actual charges, and the first on Okinawa. He had been held in U.S. military custody following the June 29 attack.
Police here obtained an arrest warrant for Woodland on Monday, but under a bilateral pact they generally need U.S. approval to assume custody of military suspects.
Washington's delay in giving that approval had generated anger on Okinawa, and renewed criticism of the special legal status granted to the 26,000 troops stationed here.
Huge protests on Okinawa following the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen in 1995 prompted Washington to agree to consider handing over suspects before charges are filed.
The first such handover was made in 1996, when an American was suspected of attempted murder near Nagasaki. He was later convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Police on Okinawa said they wanted Woodland turned over to them in order to wrap up their investigation as soon as possible. But Washington had stressed Woodland's rights must be protected.
As is customary in Japan, no defense attorney had been present during the pre-arrest questioning of Woodland, according to Okinawa police spokesman Akira Namihira. An interpreter had been provided.
A senior State Department official in Washington said the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo had been authorized to tell Japanese officials at a meeting Friday that the sergeant will be transferred to Japanese custody.
If charges are filed, Woodland will likely be tried in a Japanese court and face several years in a Japanese prison if convicted. Japan's conviction rate for cases that go to trial is more than 95 percent.
In a resolution before the arrest, the Okinawa prefectural assembly noted that this small island on Japan's southern fringe bears most of the burden of hosting the nearly 50,000 U.S. troops in this country.
``The recurrence of these crimes by American military personnel is the result of the concentration of U.S. bases here,'' it said, adding that Washington had used the bilateral pact as a ``shield'' against turning over Woodland.
Similar criticism was voiced in Japan's media.
``Considering the mood on Okinawa, turning over the accused airman to local jurisdiction would seem only natural,'' an editorial in the Asahi, a major newspaper, said Thursday. ``Crimes by U.S. military people add to resentment against the military bases.''
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi led calls from several top government officials for the U.S. to turn Woodland over.
Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka called U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday to request a swift handover. Powell said he is in close consultation with U.S. defense officials over the case. President Bush has expressed regret for the incident.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A police van believed to be carrying U.S. serviceman Timothy Woodland, who is suspected of raping a woman on Okinawa island, arrives at Okinawa Police Station in Okinawa City, southern Japan, Friday, July 6, 2001. A U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. government had agreed on a handover of Woodland for arrest by Japanese authorities. But U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker said the deal hadn't yet been clinched. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)