Japan and the United States agreed Thursday to start discussions on revising the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement to facilitate the handover to Japanese law-enforcement authorities of U.S. service personnel suspected of committing crimes once arrest warrants are issued, officials close to the meeting said.
The talks are to take place under the auspices of a special panel of experts set up in 1995 to discuss procedures regarding criminal cases.
According to the agreement, reached at a U.S. military facility in Tokyo, the U.S. military in Japan has no obligation to hand over soldiers suspected of committing crimes in Japan until they are indicted by public prosecutors.