The Yokosuka city government and local residents in east Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday strongly criticized a US announcement that it will deploy a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the port city for the first time in 2008 to replace the conventionally powered carrier Kitty Hawk.

Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya was quoted by Kyodo News as saying that, " I'm sorry and disappointed. I'm feeling betrayed."

Kabaya had opposed the rumored deployment of such a carrier to the city due to local antinuclear sentiment. Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura informed him of the US plan in the morning over the phone, Kabaya said.

The United States announced Thursday in Washington that it had agreed with Japan that the Kitty Hawk, currently based in Yokosuka, will be replaced by one of the nine nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in 2008.

Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa also criticized the Japanese government for reaching the agreement with the United States, saying, "I will urge the government to renegotiate with the US government."

According to Kyodo, a local Yokosuka group has submitted to the mayor a petition signed by about 300,000 opposing the deployment of this type of carrier.

The United States has deployed three aircraft carriers in Yokosuka, including the Kitty Hawk, since 1973, all of which were conventionally powered. The Kitty Hawk has been stationed there since 1998.

In other cities including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, people also voiced fear of possible accidents on a nuclear-powered carrier and concern that the issue will cause international disputes.

Source: Xinhua