OKINAWA, Japan : Japan's southern island of Okinawa was Sunday set to stage a major rally against the US military after a string of incidents involving its soldiers including alleged rapes.

Organisers expect more than 10,000 people to attend, the largest demonstration against the US military since 1995 when the gang rape of a 12-year-old by US servicemen triggered massive protests on the island.

Under pouring rain and harsh wind, thousands of people in raincoats and holding umbrellas gathered at a park in Okinawa to begin the march.

The rally is organised mainly by local parents' groups, lawyers and female rights activists infuriated by an alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a US Marine last month.

Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima has decided not to participate in the rally, disappointing organisers.

Participants plan to urge Tokyo and Washington to iron out effective measures to prevent crimes and cut down the US military presence in Okinawa, home to half of more than 40,000 US troops stationing in Japan, organisers said.

Following last month's incident, the US military imposed a round-the-clock curfew for about two weeks on its soldiers and their relatives in Okinawa and two other US bases in Japan.

Japanese prosecutors dropped the case as the teenage girl did not want to pursue it amid intense media attention.

But anti-US military sentiment has yet to calm following a series of high-profile crimes linked to US servicemen even after the alleged rape.

The US military has taken into custody a 22-year-old deserter from the Yokosuka Navy base, south of Tokyo, for questioning over a killing of a taxi driver last week.

The US military is also investigating allegations that a US serviceman raped a Filipina woman in Okinawa last month.

The US military is stationed in Japan under a security treaty to defend Washington's key Asian ally, which has been officially pacifist since World War II.

- AFP/ir