Crisis-hit Mori delays U.S. visit

Mori will delay a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will delay a visit to Washington, losing a chance to repair relations after a U.S. submarine sank a Japanese training trawler.

The unpopular Mori, told reporters that an early March visit would be difficult because it would conflict with the expected passage of next year's budget through parliament's Lower House.

Japanese media said Tokyo and Washington wanted a meeting between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies on the first weekend in March, before Bush meets South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on March 7

"How would I be able to leave (the country) when we must do everything to have the budget pass?" Mori said.

The lower house is expected to approve the budget for the fiscal year in early March, a move analysts say could clear the way for Mori to resign.

Turning point

Analysts said a summit of the two nations was needed to discuss not only the accident but also the future of the bilateral relationship.

"We're at a turning point in how to manage U.S.-Japan relations," Takehiko Yamamoto, a political science professor at Waseda University, said.

The opposition moved quickly to lash out at Mori, saying the current political turmoil in Japan made Bush unwilling to meet the Japanese premier.

"It is natural that (President Bush) should not feel like meeting Prime Minister Mori under these circumstances," Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.

Strained ties

Ties between the two allies have been strained by Japanese anger at America's sinking of the training vessel Ehime Maru, and by a series of incidents involving U.S. military forces on Japan's southern Okinawa Island.

The Okinawa city assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution demanding a reduction of U.S. forces stationed in the area, as well as revision of a key pact concerning the status of U.S. forces in Japan.

A U.S. Marine based on Okinawa was indicted last week on charges of setting fire to several local restaurants.

Earlier this month the chief of the U.S. forces on the island sparked outrage when he referred to his hosts as "nuts and wimps" in an internal e-mail leaked to the media.

"The submarine accident and the arson charges symbolize what has become a thorn in U.S.-Japan relations since the 1995 raping of a schoolgirl (by three U.S. servicemen)," Professor Yamamoto said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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