Japanese police applied today for the arrest of a US air force sergeant for the rape of a young Japanese woman, an incident that could spark renewed anti-US forces sentiment in Japan.
The mayor of the town, where the high-profile incident took place last Friday, plans to demand a curfew on US servicemen based on southern Okinawa island.
After a fourth day of questioning, police were convinced, based on witness accounts, that the 24-year-old US technical sergeant raped the woman early on Friday in a carpark the Kyodo news agency quoted police sources as saying.
The man has denied committing the rape, Kyodo said.
Public broadcaster NHK said police had applied for an arrest warrant. Okinawa police declined to comment.
Earlier on Monday, the police summoned the man, who is in the 353rd Special Operations Group, for questioning for a fourth straight day. He has not been officially detained.
After obtaining the arrest warrant, police will ask the US military authorities to give their consent for the arrest, and he can then be handed over to Japanese authorities.
He has been held in US custody and is based at the huge Kadena Air Base, the biggest in Asia.
Quoting police sources, Kyodo said investigators found two sets of fingerprints on the car parked in the parking lot at the time of the incident. One set was identical to those of the woman and the other to those of the sergeant, the sources said.
The crime occurred just hours before Japanese Prime Minister Mr Junichiro Koizumi left for the United States to meet President Bush at a summit at Camp David.
While Mr Koizumi said the two leaders had "heart-to-heart" talks, there was little sign that Mr Bush was ready to agree to a reduction in the 26,000 US troops to which a reluctant Okinawa has played host since World War Two.