VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) -- U.S. Navy destroyers began shelling a target
                  range on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques Wednesday, resuming military
                  exercises over the objections of activists, including a couple who yelled "Go
                  home!"

                  The USS Roosevelt and the USS Stout fired non-explosive, five-inch
                  (25-centimeter) shells at the U.S. Caribbean island, and another four destroyers
                  were due to arrive during the next four days, Navy spokesman Jeff Gordon said.
                  Most of the ships are preparing for deployments in the Mediterranean and
                  Persian Gulf.

                  As the exercises began, three protesters faced a line of police officers at the
                  entrance to the training ground, fenced off with accordion wire and patrolled by
                  troops since demonstrations began last year.

                  "We don't want you here!" the protesters shouted at soldiers behind the fence.
                  "Go home!"

                  Vieques is the focus of a dispute between Puerto Rico and the United States that
                  began in April 1999, when a U.S. Marine Corps jet dropped two 500-pound
                  (227-kilogram) bombs off target and killed a civilian security guard working on
                  the target range.

                  Protesters camped out on the range for the next year, thwarting further exercises
                  until they were forcibly cleared out by U.S. Marshals in May.

                  The Navy calls Vieques its most important training ground and says it is vital to
                  the national defense. Anti-Navy activists say the bombing has damaged the
                  environment, stunted economic growth and endangered residents.

                  The latest exercise comes as the White House works to shore up an agreement --
                  signed with the Puerto Rican government in the wake of the accident -- that
                  could force the Navy out of Vieques by May 2003.

                  On Tuesday, President Bill Clinton's main adviser on Vieques, Jeffrey Farrow,
                  told The Associated Press the White House is preparing legislation that would
                  transfer another 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) of land, part of an abandoned
                  weapons depot, to the Puerto Rican government.

                  Clinton has said the transfer is needed as a sign of good will toward Vieques'
                  9,400 residents.

                  The White House wants to try to pass the bill during the waning weeks of
                  Clinton's term -- but whether it reaches Congress will likely depend on who is
                  declared the U.S. president. If George W. Bush wins, the bill is likely to be left
                  by the wayside.

                  Both Bush and Al Gore have said they will stand by the main agreement, which
                  calls for a referendum among Vieques residents on whether the Navy should
                  leave the island. Clinton has promised the Navy will close the training ground by
                  May 2003 if it loses the vote.

                  Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.