The sides could not agree at talks in Washington on the conditions under which a US representative could be present during police interrogation of US military service personnel charged with a crime in Japan, NHK and Kyodo News reported Saturday.

A US official told reporters "the 45-day mutually agreed period of intense discussion has ended" and "certain differences" remained, Kyodo News reported.

"The two countries need to continue to work with each other, showing more flexibility," a Japanese official was quoted as saying.

The US embassy in Tokyo did not have an immediate comment on the developments and Japanese foreign ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

The Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement governs the presence of the US military in Japan and its some 47,000 troops.

The document has come under attack from Japanese politicians after a number of US militarymen have been charged and convicted in high-profile rape cases.

In July Japanese prosecutors indicted 21-year-old US Marine Lance Corporal Jose Torres for allegedly beating and raping a woman on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa in May.

Torres admitted to the allegations, prosecutors said.

The Japan-US accord does not require the transfer of military personnel to local authorities before an indictment, but US authorities have handed over suspects in certain cases.

The accord was sparked by the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen in 1995, which led to massive protests.

WAR.WIRE