VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) -- As dummy bombs fell again on Vieques
                 island, the U.S. Navy and its opponents waged a battle of perception amid
                 the war games: Protesters insisted dozens of activists have invaded the
                 U.S. Navy firing range and the Navy said no one was in harm's way.

                 Protest leader Ismael Guadalupe said about 30 people, including his 25-year-old
                 son, remained on the range during Monday's training.

                 "They are there to serve as human shields to try and stop the bombing," he said,
                 charging the exercises pose "a threat to human life."

                 But Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Goode said security patrols had
                 found no protesters on the range.

                 "If anyone is hiding really well, we hope they will come out and identify
                 themselves so we can get them out of there," she said.

                 At least 17 protesters arrested for trespassing Monday all were on land
                 surrounding the range, the Navy said.

                 Such tactics are part of a "civil disobedience" campaign that began after a
                 civilian security guard on the range was killed by off-target bombs dropped by a
                 Marine jet practicing in April 1999 for the bombing of Kosovo.

                 The issue united all political groups in this Spanish-speaking U.S. Caribbean
                 territory behind charges that the bombing harms islanders environment and
                 health.

                 The Navy denies that and says local studies that show Vieques residents suffer
                 a higher incidence of cancer and other ills are unscientific.

                 On Monday, Navy fighter jets roared over the Puerto Rican island and dropped
                 25-pound (11-kilogram) inert bombs in the first day of what could be one of the
                 last exercises here.

                 U.S. President George W. Bush announced last week that the Navy would
                 withdraw from Vieques in two years and must start looking for an alternative to
                 the island that the Navy says provides lifesaving training in an era of
                 precision-bombing. The range has been used in every major conflict from
                 World War II to the Gulf War.

                 But protesters are sticking to their slogan "No una bomba mas!" - Not one more
                 bomb! -- and demanding an immediate withdrawal.

                 "For the people of Vieques!" Jacqueline Jackson yelled as she was handcuffed
                 after her group of six cut through the fence to break into Navy property. She
                 and her husband, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, are co-presidents of the
                 Rainbow/Push Coalition civil rights group.

                 Protesters claimed victory in delaying the bombing for several hours Monday.
                 But Navy spokesman Bob Nelson said the exercise did not start until the
                 afternoon because the Navy was planning and coordinating.

                 During the last exercise, in late April and early May, more than 180 trespassers
                 were arrested. They included environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr., actor
                 Edward James Olmos and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York, who has been on
                 a hunger strike in a New York jail since May 29.

                 Bush's announcement of the withdrawal appeared to pre-empt a November 6
                 referendum in which most of the 9,100 island residents were expected to vote
                 for the Navy to leave in 2003.

                 White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday that though there now is no
                 need for the referendum, it likely will be held since Congress passed a law to
                 that effect.

                 Puerto Rican officials, meanwhile, plan their own nonbinding referendum on
                 July 29, which includes the option of an immediate withdrawal.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.