OKINAWA, Japan, June 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is asking Japan to spend $4.7 million from next year's budget to help relocate U.S. Marines from Okinawa, sources say.
The request is part of an announced realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, set to be complete by 2014, which will see the Marines transferred from the Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa to Guam, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday.
Japanese Defense Ministry sources told the newspaper officials have started making arrangements to appropriate the money, which it said is expected to cover U.S. costs to prepare land in Guam for the Marines' new quarters there.
Officials told the newspaper a far larger amount eventually will need to be set aside complete the relocation. The U.S. government is expected to present a preliminary plan for that by the end of July.
