TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese police Friday grilled a 19-year-old US sailor who is under arrest on suspicion of the attempted murder of a young woman and a 16-year-old girl, a police spokesman said.

The sailor was arrested Thursday for allegedly stabbing the girl and the 26-year-old woman at an apartment near a US naval base in Yokosuka, apparently because the girl refused to have an affair with him, police said.

"The investigation over the case is continuing," said a spokesman at the Uraga police precinct in a port city of Yokosuka, which hosts the naval base at the entrance to Tokyo bay that is home to the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier.

His name was not released because he is under 20 years' old and considered to be a minor under Japanese law, the spokesman said.

The woman suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries while the younger girl sustained minor injuries. They are both Japanese but not related.

After allegedy stabbing the victims at around 8:30 am Thursday, the sailor fled but was found inside a department store nearby, police said.

US military officials expressed their concern over the conduct of some service members and wished the victims a speedy recovery.

The United States stations some 37,000 troops in Japan as part of a security alliance, with about 13,000 more personnel offshore with the US Seventh Fleet.

Past crimes have strained relations with local communities. Last June a Japanese court sentenced a US sailor to life in prison for robbing and murdering a local woman.

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