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http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BASES_THE_FOREIGN_FACTOR?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-05-25-07-39-53U.S. Base Closures Cause Jitters Abroad
By ERIC TALMADGE
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) -- Just outside Tokyo, city officials gathered nearly 60,000 signatures in one month to stop the possible expansion of a U.S. Army camp. In South Korea, 1,000 workers fearing for their jobs rallied outside the main base there and vowed a bigger protest was ahead.
While the United States works out its biggest set of domestic military base closures in decades, countries from Germany to South Korea are bracing for a major restructuring as well, with new hosts being courted and as many as 70,000 U.S. troops expected to head home over the next decade.
Mirroring the domestic shake-up, negotiations are underway for bases abroad to be shut down, or, in other cases, beefed up. But with few formal announcements, the overseas restructuring has everyone from peace activists to labor unions on edge.
In Japan, where U.S. troop levels are expected to stay about the same at 50,000-plus, even rumors of relatively minor moves have generated jitters.
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