Abe jeered during 70th anniversary of bloodiest Pacific battle

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offers flowers for the war dead during a memorial service of the Battle of Okinawa, at the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman, on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, in this photo taken by Kyodo June 23, 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the battle. -Reuters

ITOMAN: Japan’s premier Shinzo Abe was heckled at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, the bloodiest episode in the Pacific War, as anger flared over the US military’s continuing presence.

In a highly charged ceremony on Okinawa, Abe was shouted at by locals angry at the size of the United States’ presence on the subtropical islands.