Explosion heard near U.S. base in Japan, no damage

By Rob Taylor

TOKYO (Reuters) - A small explosion was heard near a U.S. military base in Japan but there were no injuries or damage, Japanese police and U.S. military spokesmen said on Tuesday.

Police who searched the area near the U.S. Army's Camp Zama base near Tokyo found two pipes in a park about 300 metres from the base, the police spokesman said, adding that they were investigating the incident.

"Whatever happened off base, there was no damage to any property in the installation and no injuries to U.S. service members," said U.S. Air Force Captain Jason Medina, a spokesman for U.S. Forces, Japan.

"Japanese police are handling the investigation," he said.

The base is about 40 km southwest of Tokyo.

Kyodo news agency said local police were searching sites related to a radical leftist group.

The United States has 50,000 troops stationed in Japan under the U.S.-Japan security alliance. Residents have complained in the past about crime, noise and pollution associated with the bases, but the public generally supports the alliance.

Violence directed against the bases is rare and is usually believed to be the work of small radical groups whose influence is minimal. The attacks rarely cause injuries or much damage.

The explosion was heard by a resident near the camp at about 11 p.m. (1400 GMT/9 a.m. EST) on Monday, Kyodo said, adding that police believed the pipes might have been used to launch a small bomb at the base.

In a similar incident in November 2002, two homemade rockets were fired towards Camp Zama from near the same park.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is due to visit Japan later this month to thank it for its support in the Iraq war.

Japan sent about 550 non-combat troops to southern Iraq. That mission ended last July, but about 200 air force personnel remain in Kuwait to transport supplies to the U.S.-led coalition.