A local civic group said Wednesday it will hold a demonstration on Saturday with about 3,000 participants to demand immediate closure of the Futemma US Marine Corps Air Station in Japan's southernmost Okinawa Prefecture. The group's demand followed last week's crash of a US Marine helicopter at an Okinawa university campus.

The demonstration will start in front of the gate of the US base in Ginowan, Okinawa, and end at the crash site nearby, according to the Okinawa Peace Movement Center based in the prefectural capital of Naha.

Demonstrators will also demand the unconditional return of the air station site to Japan, the group said.

The group has criticized the Japanese government for discounting the significance of the issues regarding US military bases in Okinawa, which local residents say bears an unfair share of burden in hosting US forces in Japan.

The bulk of US bases are located in the island prefecture ofJapan

Source: Xinhua