The request was made at a meeting of the US-Japan Joint Committee on the bilateral security alliance, hours after Okinawa police obtained a court warrant for the arrest of 21-year-old lance corporal Jose Torres.

Japanese outrage targeted a long-standing agreement on the legal status of US forces in Japan. Under the pact, the US military in Japan is not required to hand over to Japanese police criminal suspects among its members until they are indicted.

But the US side pledged to consider the request on the basis of a 1995 bilateral agreement that committed Washington to give "sympathetic consideration" to the immediate handover of suspects in serious crimes, such as murder and rape, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a press statement.

The accord was hammered out after the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen earlier that year that sparked massive protests against the huge US military presence on Okinawa.

Torres allegedly beat and raped a woman in her "late teens" on a street after taking her out of a restaurant in the early hours hour of May 25, an Okinawan prefectural police press officer said.

According to press reports, Torres has admitted to having consensual sex with the 19-year-old woman.

At the joint meeting, the US side, including diplomats and senior military officials, said that the suspect "has been voluntarily cooperating with investigations and shown repentance," the foreign ministry statement said.

The US side also noted that Torres had been held in custody at a detention centre at the US Marines' Camp Hansen, where he is based.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said before the joint committee meeting that the alleged attack involved "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," she said.

The foreign minister spoke earlier with US Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker, who reiterated his promise to take the matter "seriously" and cooperate fully with the Japanese police investigation, according to the ministry.

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.

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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