Staff Sergeant Tyrone Luther Hadnott, who was arrested on Feb 11, was freed from prosecutors? custody, said a police spokesman on the southern island of Okinawa.

'We have been informed that the suspect was released,' said the police spokesman in Okinawa's capital Naha.

He declined further details. But Jiji Press said the girl's family dropped the allegations against him and that Hadnott would not be prosecuted.

Prosecutors could not be reached late Friday. A US military spokesman had no immediate comment.

The rape allegations had sparked outrage in Japan and led the US military to slap a sweeping curfew on all troops and their families in Okinawa, which is home to half of the more than 40,000 US troops stationed in the country.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also offered an apology during a visit to Japan on Wednesday, voicing hope that the incident would not hurt friendly relations between the two countries.

In 1995, three US troops gang-raped a 12-year-old girl, setting off major protests that set in motion a process to withdraw thousands of troops from Okinawa, a strategic US military hub close to the Taiwan Strait.

According to earlier police accounts, Hadnott offered the girl a ride on his motorbike and took her to his home. When she started crying, he allegedly offered to take her home in his car.

The girl went to police, who interviewed her and took her to the hospital.

Police said the girl had alleged full rape. Police had said that Hadnott admitted trying to forcibly kiss the teenager but denied rape and said he did not know she was underage. -- AFP