The indictment comes about three weeks after lance corporal Jose Torres was taken into Japanese custody under a Japan-US security alliance that allows the handover of military personnel suspected of crimes in special cases.

Prosecutors said that on the night of May 25, Torres broke the nose of a 19-year-old woman with a punch to the face after leading her out of a restaurant where they had met for the first time.

He is accused of raping the woman on a road nearby in the town of Kin, on the main island of Okinawa, northeast of the prefectural capital, Naha.

Torres has admitted to the allegations, the Naha prosecutors office said.

The case has drawn scorn from Japanese politicians and pledges of cooperation from US military authorities.

The Japan-US accord allows the transfer of military personnel to local authorities before an indictment. It was sparked by the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen in 1995, which sparked massive protests.

The island 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.

WAR.WIRE