SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Navy informed Puerto Rico's government Friday that a new round of bombing exercises could start as soon as Jan. 13 on the outlying island of Vieques.

The Navy said in its letter to the U.S. territory's government that it would conduct the maneuvers for up to one month. Previous military exercises involved ship-to-shore shelling and aerial bombing.

Gov. Sila Calderon, who opposes the training, sent a letter to President Bush on Friday calling the plan "patently offensive."

Demonstrators routinely break onto Navy lands to thwart the exercises, saying the maneuvers harm the environment and health of Vieques' 9,100 residents. The Navy denies that claim.

Bush has pledged the Navy will leave Vieques by May 2003. Calderon and dozens of U.S. congressional representatives have urged Bush to put his promise in writing, as concerns mount that the United States could need the island as it prepares for a possible war with Iraq.

The U.S. Navy, which owns about one-third of the outlying Puerto Rican island, has used the bombing range for six decades.

A security guard was killed on the range in 1999 by errant Navy bombs, and the military has used only dummy bombs in the maneuvers ever since.

The last round of training was held on the Caribbean island in September.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press

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