Last October, the two countries agreed to transfer 8,000 marines from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam, a US territory located roughly midway between Japan and Australia.

For many residents of Okinawa, the removal of the marines and their dependents cannot come soon enough: the island makes up a fraction of Japan's total land area but is home to 75% of all US military installations in Japan and about half of the 50,000-strong US troop presence.

In attemping to reduce the US military footprint on its own soil, though, Japan is learning that friendship comes at a price.

The US estimates that it will cost about $10bn (£5.6bn) to move the marines to Guam, and is demanding that Japan foot 75% of the bill. So far Japan has agreed to pay only $3bn (£1.7bn) dollars, with a further US3 billion dollars to come in the form of easy loans.

Not for the first time, the administration of Junichiro Koizumi is having to juggle its responsibilities to the bilateral alliance with its duty to Japanese taxpayers who, according to opinion polls, do not want their government to spend a single dime on their guests' ticket home.

The two sides have already missed a March 31 deadline for finalising the marines' transfer, and two days of talks in Tokyo at the end of last week made little headway.

Positive noises from US negotiators about a deal being on the cards for the beginning of next month couldn't hide signs of what one described as a "significant" gap between the two countries.

Though it is not legally required to do so, Japan already pays about 235bn yen (£1.1bn) a year in host-nation support for the US bases - about 70% of the total cost.

Not surprisingly, many Japanese find the additional demands hard to stomach.

"The request sounds extraordinary," said the Japan Times in a vitriolic editorial. "Having a foreign host government pay for the cost of relocating a US military facility and its personnel to US territories is almost unheard of." Similar troop realignments in Germany will, the paper reported, be paid for by Washington.

Critics have also asked how it is possible for a project initially estimated at $4bn (£2.2bn) dollars to end up costing more than twice as much. The answer appears to be that Japan is not being asked to pay for the relocation alone, but to build housing and other facilities for their marines in their new home on Guam. If the Japanese relent, the Americans can consider themselves truly blessed: the move to Guam was after all already part and parcel of the Bush administration's efforts to strengthen the US military presence in the Pacific.

In an unedifying couple of weeks for US-Japan relations, the allies can at least claim to have made a breakthrough on the equally sensitive subject of Futenma marine corps air base, by some distance the most problematic US military installation on Okinawa.

In 1996, Japan and the US agreed to move the base to an offshore location in the Henoko district of Nago on Okinawa's north-east coast. The current base is situated in the heart of a heavily populated area which is clearly outgrowing the physical confines imposed by its military neighbour, and where residents fear the very real possibility of a catastrophic accident.

In a significant development, the mayor of Nago, Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, last week ditched his initial opposition to plans to incorporate Futenma's functions into Camp Schwab, a marine base near his town, after securing agreement that aircraft would not have to fly over residential areas.

But it is worth remembering why the Futenma relocation was deemed necessary in the first place. Aside from its inappropriate location, it came to be seen as a symbol of the increasingly testy relations between US servicemen based in Japan and their civilian neighbours.

Local resentment had peaked in 1995 when three US servicemen were found guilty of raping and kidnapping a local 15-year-old girl. Tens of thousands of Okinawans took to the streets in the biggest anti-base protests seen on the island in decades.

Subsequent protests have not captured the same palpable sense of outrage that gripped the island that summer, but opposition to the bases, in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan, has been given a new lease of life.

Environmental protesters have already managed to frustrate plans to build the new Nago runway offshore, saying the facility would destroy local marine life and coral reefs. The alternative accepted by Mayor Shimabukuro - a V-shaped runway straddling the tip of Cape Henoko with separate strips for taking off and landing - would at least allow aircraft to operate without the need to fly over nearby towns and villages.

But his volte-face has not been replicated by residents, most of whom would prefer to see Futenma dismantled and rebuilt on the other side of the Pacific ocean.

As the locals grow restless and the Americans exasperated, it is almost possible to hear the sound of pride being swallowed by key player in Okinawan political life.

The island's governor, Kenichi Inamine, had opposed the new Henoko arrangement forged with Shimabukuro, only to announce days later that he would "respect" it.

It is safe to say that the Americans have the upper hand as they prepare for the next round of talks on Monday. As they have insisted from the start, the realignment is a package deal: without the Futenma relocation, there can be no marine transfer. The first obstacle - arguably the greater of the two - appears to have been overcome, at least verbally. All that remains is to dangle the prospect of 8,000 fewer marines on Okinawa to persuade the Japanese to part with their cash.

Much of Honiara's Chinatown area was razed overnight and some families were forced to jump from burning buildings. Police have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the city.

Mr Rini emerged from a meeting with advisers on Wednesday to appeal to Honiara residents to "remain calm", reported AFP news agency.

In an earlier statement he invited protesters to engage in dialogue with him, but did not respond to the demands that he should resign, said the agency. His swearing-in, originally set for Wednesday, has been postponed.

Troops arrive

Some 180 Australian soldiers and police have begun arriving in the country to try to impose order after a written request from the Solomons government. A smaller contingent of additional New Zealand peacekeepers are set to arrive on Thursday.

But the BBC's Phil Mercer says there are concerns that the presence of more foreign troops could inflame the situation in the troubled city.

About 280 Australian police were already in the country as part of a regional force sent to restore peace in 2003, after violence stirred up by local warlords left hundreds dead and 20,000 displaced.

Wednesday's rioting came after newly-elected MPs met in secret to elect a new prime minister.

'Chinese connections'

Mr Rini, 56, beat off two main rivals in Tuesday's secret ballot for the leadership - former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Job Dudley Tausinga, leader of the new Rural Advancement Party.

Bakiyev said in a televised speech that Kyrgyzstan reserved the right to consider terminating a Dec. 4, 2001 accord on the use of the base, if talks on new financial terms of the contract failed to end successfully by June 1, 2006.

Bakiyev has long called on the United States to pay more rent for the Manas air base set up at the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 to support combat operations in the Central Asian country.

"I repeated that to top U.S. officials many times in the past months," Bakiyev said.

In February, the president said the United States should pay 100 times more, or 207 million U.S. dollars, for the use of the military base.

He said the new figure was in line with international practice and said the Americans could stay until neighbouring Afghanistan was entirely stable.

The Manas base has become increasingly important for Washington since neighboring Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate abase there last year.

Some 1,500 troops from the United States and other NATO member states as well as fighter planes are stationed at the Manas airport.

Italian news agency Ansa reported that raids had also taken place in the southern town of Caserte, and in Milan in the north, targeting both Italian and Algerian nationals.

Investigators are trying to determine whether their activities benefited Islamic extremists, particularly Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), according to a French diplomat in Rome.

The diplomat said the suspects -- who are all targeted by European arrest warrants -- are thought to be linked to illegal immigration activities.

Ansa reported that forged identity documents were being sent on an almost weekly basis from Naples to Marseille, on board tourist buses, to be sold in the French city.

Naples prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for two Italians and five Algerians, two of whom are already in jail, Ansa said.

France stepped up its level of anti-terrorist alert after last July's bombings in London, and ministers have warned repeatedly that the country is seen as a target by Islamist militants.

Investigators take seriously a threat from the GSPC -- a movement linked to Al-Qaeda -- which in September said in a statement that France was its "enemy number one".

Italy -- which has frequently received threats from extremist groups via the Internet for maintaining its 3,000-strong military contingent in Iraq -- also stepped up security in the wake of the London bombings.

The French president insisted that the door remained open for a resumption of talks as soon as Iran went along with the requests of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Security Council, stressing that "more than ever the choice is in the hands of the Iranian leaders."

Iran, suspected by the West of wanting to acquire the atomic bomb, has refused to suspend its uranium enrichment activities in spite of pressure by the big powers.

The Security Council has asked Iran to suspend those activities by April 28.

Major powers meeting in Moscow on Tuesday discussed the possibility of sanctions against Iran for its suspected nuclear weapons program but reached no agreement, the US State Department said.

Chirac is sticking to the diplomatic option to try and get Tehran to budge while US President George W. Bush has not excluded any option, including military action against Iran.

The French president reaffirmed Iran's "legitimate right" to civil nuclear energy, but on condition that the country give "objective guarantees on the peaceful nature of its program."

"The IAEA found that its nuclear activities had been carried out in an underhand way," he said. "Besides, Iran is pursuing a worrying missile program."

Egypt is calling for a diplomatic solution to the crisis but is also worried by the fact that Israel refuses to sign the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Experts believe Israel has some 200 nuclear warheads.

Chirac is expected to share Mubarak's "conviction" that the setting up of a zone free from arms of mass destruction would bring progress for peace and stability in the Middle East.

The French leader called on the hardline Hamas-controlled Palestinian government and Israel to "make the necessary gestures" for a resumption of "real" peace negotiations.

"In the immediate future we call on Hamas to understand that the way of violence is pointless and to continue its transition toward political action, continuing to respect the truce and committing to a process of renouncing violence and recognizing Israel," Chirac said.

The interview was carried out before a suicide bombing Monday in Tel Aviv claimed nine lives apart from that of the bomber, the deadliest attack since August 2004. The Palestinian government refused to condemn the attack and said Israel bore responsibility for it.

Chirac continued: "But we also say to the Israelis that they must brush aside the temptation of unilateralism, end targeted killings and the pursuit of settlements."

In other remarks, Chirac defended the cautious reforms carried out by Egypt, including electoral changes, describing them as "fruitful."

He said France had "no hidden agenda concerning Syria", implicitly denying that Paris wanted a regime change in Damascus.

Washington is expected to send a delegation of 30 officials to defend its record at a meeting next month in Geneva of the committee, composed of 10 independent human rights experts.

The debate, set for May 5 and May 8, will focus on a report filed a year ago by the United States on its compliance with the Convention against Torture, which bans all forms of torture.

Washington said at the time it was abiding by the treaty and that any abuses of detainees in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were not systemic. Critics called the report a whitewash.

The U.N. committee has responded, asking firstly how memoranda from the U.S. Justice Department declaring that torture covers only extreme acts is compatible with the treaty.

It asked whether there had been any independent investigation into "the possible responsibility of high-ranking officials" for authorizing or consenting to acts of torture committed during interrogation of detainees.

SECRET JAILS

It seeks details on how many people are detained in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as their exact legal status.

On the
Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq -- where photographs of torture and sexual abuse of detainees by U.S. soldiers provoked outrage in 2004 -- the U.N. committee asked what measures had been taken to "identify and remedy problems" there.

The U.N. panel cited reports of secret detention facilities, including on ships, and demanded a list of all detention facilities where inmates are held under de facto U.S. control.

"Why have such secret detention facilities been established? Does the (United States) assume responsibility for alleged acts of torture perpetrated by its own public agents outside its territory but in territories under its jurisdiction or de facto control...?" the U.N. committee asked.

It also challenged some practices in U.S. domestic jails, such as imprisoning juveniles with adults, banned under U.S. law. It cited a report that "detained women are kept shackled during childbirth," while other detainees are chained in gangs.

"There is serious concern on the part of the committee at the situation of (U.S.) prisons, the system and the conditions of detention which can be tremendously severe," Morales said.

The U.N. panel, which meets twice a year, will also examine the records of Georgia, Guatemala, Peru, Qatar,
South Korea and Togo at its May 1-19 session.