TOKYO: Threatening lawsuits and protests, opponents are gearing up to fight a decision by Okinawa's governor that could pave the way for a new U.S. military base on the southern Japanese island.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel welcomed Friday's decision, calling it "the most significant milestone" so far in a long-running battle to realign U.S. forces in Okinawa, but the reaction was hostile in Japan.

The new base is designed to reduce the impact of the heavy U.S. military presence in Okinawa by replacing another base in a more congested area, but opponents want the operations moved off Okinawa completely.

"What the governor has done is unforgivable," Yuichi Higa, the head of the assembly in Nago city, said in a phone interview. Nago would house the new base.

"Residents who are opposed will surely resort to the use of force, such as blocking roads, to stop this from happening," Higa said.

Hiroshi Ashitomi, head of a Nago group opposing the base, said his organization would file a lawsuit challenging the governor's decision.

Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Friday approved the Japanese Defense Ministry's application to reclaim land for the proposed American base on Okinawa's coast. It would replace the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma base in Ginowan city.

But he later told a news conference that he would continue pressing to move the Futenma troops off Okinawa entirely, noting estimates that it would take 9 1/2 years to build the base.

"My thinking remains it would be fastest to relocate outside (Okinawa) prefecture to a place where there is already an airport," he said.

The new base is part of a U.S.-Japan agreement that would also move 9,000 Marines off Okinawa, including transferring 5,000 to Guam.

Hagel said the effort to realign American troops in Okinawa was "absolutely critical to the United States' ongoing rebalance" to the Asia-Pacific region.

(AP)