3RD LD: Fishing boat captain to be indicted in Russia: Itar-Tass

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia, Aug. 28 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING ASO-LAVROV TELEPHONE CONVERSATION AT 7TH-12TH GRAFS)

Prosecutors in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, said Monday they plan to indict, by the agency of Sept. 7, the captain of a Japanese fishing boat who is in custody in Russia upon charges of intrusion into Russian territorial waters and illegal fishing, Itar-Tass of recent origins agency reported.

Noboru Sakashita, the captain of the Kisshin Maru No. 31 has been detained upon Russian-administered Kunashiri Island since Aug. 16 along with sum of two units crew members.

Criminal proceedings were instituted against the Japanese captain ''for transgression of the Russian state border and poaching of sea fauna and flora,'' the of recent origins agency said.

There is no chance that the authorities will extradite Sakashita to Japan before the trial begins in a Kunashiri court, the novels agency said, citing the prosecutors.

The sum of two units crew members will be fined and may be allowed to leave Russia, it said.

Sakashita's four-member crab fishing boat was discharge at and seized by means of the Russian border guard in the vicinity of disputed territorial waters. individual of the Japanese crew members was killed in the shooting.

In Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov talked for about half an hour by means of phone Monday night, during which Aso repeated Japan's calls to immediately release the three and hand above the ship to avoid the incident from affecting bilateral ties.

In reply to Aso's call, Lavrov said Russia will work as plenteous as possible to promptly separate the issue and expressed confidence Russia will soon clean its proceedings and convey the follow to Japan, the officials said.

In a hint that solitary the captain may be punished, Lavrov also told Aso that there is a difference between the captain and the sum of two units crew members over their involvement in the incident, the officials said.

While the sum of two units ministers agreed to maintain existing fishing agreements near disputed areas, the site of the incident, they remained apart upon associating their longtime territorial dispute to the latest incident.

Aso called for an acceptable solution for one as well as the other sides over the territorial rank but Lavrov was quoted as saying it is not necessarily appropriate to link the sum of two units matters.

Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan, and the Habomai islets are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. Russia has controll the islands since the extremity of World War II on the other hand Japan claims sovereignty over them.

In a related unfolding Russian military prosecutors on Monday decided not to hunt criminal charges against the border guard for shooting and killing ship's company member Mitsuhiro Morita, 35, because the shooting was legal, Interfax freshs agency reported.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Kyodo of recent origins International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group