Japan's Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono said Wednesday that he personally favored a US proposal to move an Army headquarters from the United States to Japan.

The remarks came amid mixed Japanese government officials' opinions over envisaged US military realignment.

"I see no problem even if a headquarters comes to somewhere in Japan from the US mainland, although a unified government view hasyet to be put out," Ono was quoted as saying by Kyodo News at a House of Councillors Budget Committee session.

The United States reportedly intends to move its Army First Corps headquarters from the state of Washington to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo.

The report has raised concerns that the relocation would go against the bilateral security treaty which says operations of US troops in Japan are within Far East region. The troops' operations,however, could reach as far as Middle East.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said the US military realignment issue "should be discussed from the viewpoints of the security treaty and the Japan-US alliance in theglobal context."

In a gesture to play down the remarks, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda delivered a dismissive opinion early Wednesday, saying Japan will have to secure the treaty's consistency.

Source: Xinhua