The government planned to ask the US side to hand over to Japanese police 21-year-old lance corporal Jose Torres, who allegedly beat and raped a woman, said Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi.

"The Japanese government ... plans to urge the US side for the transfer of the suspect before indictment," Kawaguchi said in a statement released after the Okinawa Police obtained the arrest warrant from the local court.

"The allegation involves such a vicious crime as rape and assault against a woman. It is extremely regrettable that an incident that requires the issuance of an arrest warrant ... took place," Kawaguchi said.

The foreign minister spoke earlier with US Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker, who reiterated his promise of full cooperation with the Japanese police investigation.

"We regard the issue seriously," Baker was quoted by Japanese officials as telling Kawaguchi. "We want to fully cooperate with the investigation."

Torres has admitted to having consensual sex with the 19-year-old woman when he went out of a bar with her in the early hours of May 25, news reports have said.

Police officials in Okinawa were not immediately available for comment.

Under the Status of Forces Agreement, governing issues of legal jurisdiction relating to US troops stationed here, the US military is not required to hand over to Japanese police criminal suspects among its members, until they are indicted.

But Washington agreed to give "sympathetic consideration" to the immediate handover of suspects in serious crimes, such as murder and rape, after the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen in 1995 sparked off massive protests against US troops and military bases.

Japanese and US officials were expected to meet later Monday to discuss the handover of Torres, Kawaguchi said.

The Okinawan chain at the extreme southwestern end of the Japanese archipelago is strategically located within striking distance of the Korean peninsula and China, and hosts about two-thirds of the 47,000 US troops in Japan.

A string of crimes committed by US soldiers as well as disputes over the ownership and use of the land on which US military facilities sit have made Okinawa residents reluctant hosts.

Such cases of sexual assault involving US serviceman invariably lead to local politicians renewing their calls for the garrison to be withdrawn.

A marine major based in Okinawa is currently on trial for attempted rape, even though the woman said by prosecutors to be the victim, told the court last month she wanted the charges dropped.

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