Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed that agreement had been reached to re-position the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, and said it was undergoing an inter-agency examination here.

"So there's a final approval step that has yet to be completed at this point," McCormack said.

"Our hope is that the process for final approval of this agreement can be done on an expedited basis," he said. "And we would hope to have a formal announcement about the finally-agreed agreement in the coming days."

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said the agreement would be sealed Saturday in Washington in high-level security talks involving the foreign and defense ministers from the two countries.

But McCormack would not confirm this, saying only, "Certainly, we would look forward to marking that occasion in an appropriate way."

"Whether that's meeting at the ministerial level in the coming days, we'll see. I don't think that there are any agreed-upon dates for a meeting at this point."

The agreement was in line with a 1996 accord between Tokyo and Washington to move the Futenma Air Base out of the crowded urban center of Ginowan, where residents complain about aircraft noise.

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