WASHINGTON -- (AP) -- A presidential panel recommended Monday that the
 Navy be allowed to resume practice bombing on the Puerto Rican island of
 Vieques -- over the objections of the local population and the Puerto Rican
 government -- but that it prepare to abandon the island within five years.

 The recommendation drew immediate protest in Puerto Rico, where sentiment
 against the Navy has been growing since a civilian security guard was killed in a
 bombing accident in April. Protesters have been camping out on the bombing
 range since then, but the Navy is eager to resume using it.

 Reflecting the political sensitivity of the controversy, Hillary Rodham Clinton called
 for a permanent end to using Vieques as a bombing range. The First Lady, who is
 courting Hispanic political support in her exploratory campaign for a U.S. Senate
 seat from New York, urged the Navy to find an alternative.

 ``There should be an immediate and permanent end to the bombing,'' Mrs. Clinton
 said in a written statement. ``Use of live fire on the island has put the people of
 Vieques at risk, degraded the environment and hampered economic
 development.''

 Defense Secretary William Cohen, who was traveling in the Middle East, issued a
 written statement calling the panel's report balanced. But he also asked the panel
 members to hold additional talks with the Puerto Ricans and the Navy before he
 makes a final recommendation to President Clinton.

 `SERIOUS CONCERNS'

 ``It's clear from the panel's report there are serious concerns among the residents
 of Vieques which need and deserve the careful attention of the Navy and the
 Department of Defense,'' Cohen wrote. Without suggesting any particular solution,
 Cohen said he believed more discussions would be productive.

 Until Cohen acts, the Navy apparently will continue its moratorium on live-fire
 training on the island.

 On Vieques, activists reacted swiftly to news of the panel's recommendation,
 which includes steps to immediately reduce the amount of training on Vieques
 and improve safety for the island's 9,300 residents. The report also recommended
 the return of some Navy land on Vieques to Puerto Rico, including an ammunition
 storage area and 110 acres to be used for a runway extension at the Vieques
 commercial airport. The Navy owns about two-thirds of the island.

 PROTESTER'S VIEW

 ``I think this is a way to give the Navy time to find allies,'' said Carlos Ventura,
 president of the Fishermen's Association of Southern Vieques, which has set up
 a protest camp on the bombing range at the eastern tip of the island.

 ``For us, it is unacceptable that the Navy start exercises again,'' Ventura said.
 ``We are going to stay there and continue our civil disobedience. They will have to
 arrest us, and when that happens there will be many more people who will come
 out and join us.''

 Puerto Ricans raise a host of environmental, health and other objections to the
 practice bombing.

 Sila Calderon, San Juan mayor and front-runner in the 2000 gubernatorial race,
 said, ``The Puerto Rican people have to remain unequivocally firm that we do not
 want military exercises to begin again in Vieques.''

 COMBAT READINESS

 Live-firing training, including air-to-ground bombing, naval gunfire and artillery,
 ceased after the April 19 fatality. Military leaders say the halt to training is
 chipping away at the combat readiness of naval forces who deploy from the East
 Coast, including aircraft carrier battle groups and Marine units.

 ``The future of Vieques Island as a training facility must transcend the emotion of
 the April 19th tragedy,'' Adm. Jay Johnson, the chief of naval operations, said in a
 written statement Monday.

 Navy Secretary Richard Danzig said he was pleased the presidential panel agreed
 with the Navy's view that there is no viable short-term alternative to Vieques as a
 combined arms training facility.

 ``I urge the people of Puerto Rico -- some 6,000 of whose residents serve in the
 Navy and Marine Corps -- to accept this judgment,'' Danzig said. He said he
 accepts the panel's recommendation that the Navy place a higher priority on
 improving its relationship with the Puerto Rican people. To that end, Danzig said
 he was authorizing the assignment of a two-star admiral to Puerto Rico with the
 specific task of building a better relationship with Puerto Rico and with Vieques.

 The presidential panel's report is accessible online:
 www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct1999/viq_101899.html

                     Copyright 1999 Miami Herald