Abe suspends work on US base relocation

Japan's government will accept a court-mediated settlement plan and suspend construction work for the planned relocation of a US air base in Okinawa and will begin a new round of talks with local authorities who want the base moved off the island.

The government in Tokyo and authorities in the southern island of Okinawa have long been at loggerheads over the relocation of the US Marines air base at Futenma, an urban area on the island.

Tokyo wants to move the base to a less populated area but Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga wants the base off the island altogether.