Taxi Driver Online

21 Mar 2008

Japan hunts US sailor over murder

A manhunt has been launched for a US sailor, after a taxi driver was
murdered near a US naval base in Japan.

Local media said a credit card belonging to a sailor was discovered in the
taxi where Masaaki Takahashi, 61, was found with stab wounds in his neck.

The US Navy said it was helping police in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, to find
the sailor following Wednesday's murder.

There are about 50,000 US personnel in Japan, and the relationship with
the local population is often uneasy.

A number of criminal allegations have been made against servicemen in
recent years.

Most recently, a US marine was accused of raping a 14-year-old girl. The
case triggered protests on the island of Okinawa but was later dropped.

Police have not named the sailor they are hunting and refused to say
whether he is a suspect in the murder.

Cmdr David Waterman, a US Navy spokesman, told the Associated Press
the sailor "may have information pertinent to the case".

"Since the incident happened close to the base, both US Navy and
Japanese authorities are interested in talking to a number of persons,
including a US sailor," he said.

Japanese media reported that the serviceman had been missing from the
Yokosuka base for several weeks.

Source: BBC News
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