Japan and the United States agreed Wednesday to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to Camp Schwab, possibly resolving a dispute that has lasted nine years.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The plan, recently proposed by Japan, will entail building a 1,800-meter runway through an area where barracks now stand and filling in some land in Oura Bay.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>With the crucial agreement in hand, the two allies will proceed with their so-called two-plus-two security talks of foreign affairs and defense ministers on Saturday in Washington as planned.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Top government officials breathed a sigh of relief after clinching the agreement. If the talks had failed, it could have seriously undermined the Japan-U.S. alliance ahead of President George W. Bush's visit to Japan next month.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'It was a long road, but the two sides readily reached an agreement,' Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono told reporters after meeting with Richard Lawless, the U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia and Pacific affairs. Lawless was Washington's chief negotiator in the latest round of talks.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Ono also said the two sides agreed to reduce the number of marines in Okinawa by 'a couple of thousand.' There are presently some 14,000 marines in Japan, most of them stationed on Okinawa.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Although the negotiators may be smiling in Tokyo, the Japanese government still faces the daunting task of persuading the government and people of Okinawa to accept it. Local officials there have been demanding the base be relocated outside the prefecture or to a joint civilian-military airport to be built in waters off Nago.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said later Wednesday the government would do its utmost to gain Okinawa's understanding about the new plan, but he added the relocation will not be an easy task.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The government 'was unable to implement the –

relocation (plan) because of a lot of opposition," Koizumi said. "We need to carry out (the new plan) as soon as possible."

The defense chief called for cooperation from Okinawans, saying Japan had done its best to protect the environment.

In a news conference in the afternoon at the U.S. Embassy, Lawless said the U.S. side agreed to the Japanese proposal because it was given assurances Tokyo's plan would provide a "comprehensive, capable and executable solution" to relocate the air base's heliport functions.

Lawless said the agreement is expected to be officially approved at Saturday's ministerial meeting in Washington along with an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.