Okinawa adopts resolution against more US Ospreys

File photos of US MV-22 Ospreys during a drill as part of the BALIKATAN 2013 (shoulder-to-shoulder) combined military exercise at the Crow Valley, Tarlac province, north of Manila April 12, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

TOKYO - Japan's Okinawa prefecture on Thursday adopted a resolution against the plan that the United States will deploy 12 more MV-22 Osprey aircraft in the country's southernmost prefecture.

The resolution was passed at a plenary of the prefecture's assembly and said it is intolerable that the Japanese and US governments ignore the opinion of Okinawa for a long time.

The prefecture also called for the removes of all Ospreys deployed in Okinawa and asked for closure of the Futenma base, a key US airebase in the prefecture, according to a position paper that also was approved during the plenary by the local parliament.

Japan's defense ministry announced on July 1 that the United States will deploy more Ospreys in Okinawa by the end of the month.

The United States successively deployed 12 Ospreys to the Futenma airbase in October 2012 and the planes started their first training in Japan on March 6 this year.

Local residents in Okinawa strongly oppose the deployment of the Ospreys out of safety concerns and call for removal of the Futenma airbase, which is located in a residential area in the city of Ginowan, out of the prefecture.