ST. KITTS DRUG BOSS THREATENS TO KILL AMERICANS

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A suspected narcotics trafficker has threatened to
"murder at random" American veterinary students on the island of St. Kitts
if the U.S. government attempts to extradite him, the State Department said
Thursday.

Following up on a warning issued by the State Department, U.S. officials
were to meet again on Friday with Americans on the Caribbean nation, which
comprises the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The threats by 37-year-old Charles Miller, wanted in Florida for cocaine
smuggling, prompted an implicit warning that American authorities are
prepared to go after the man if he harms U.S. citizens.

"Anyone who is considering carrying out such threats should bear in mind
the U.S. government's determination to bring to justice anyone who commits
acts of terrorism against U.S. citizens anywhere in the world," State
Department spokesman James Rubin said Thursday.

Miller is described in published reports as a millionaire who drives a
bulletproof BMW. For years he has eluded authorities on St. Kitts, an
island in the eastern Caribbean not far from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

No evacuation order

There are hundreds of Americans on St. Kitts, including about 250 American
students and 50 U.S. faculty at Ross Veterinary University.

U.S. consular and security officials met with students and other members of
the American community Wednesday. Another meeting is planned for Friday.

Contingency plans have been made to get Americans off the island on the
five or six daily commercial flights, Rubin said, adding that charter
flights might also be used.

The State Department has not yet advised U.S. citizens to leave St. Kitts,
Rubin said, but it is "alerting them to the danger so they are aware of
what the problems are, what the risks are and what the specific information
we have is."

'Credible threat'

Miller has "made a threat that, if he is extradited, he will kill
Americans," Rubin said. "And based on our experience and knowledge of this
individual, we believe the threat is sufficiently specific and credible to
justify alerting the American citizens on the island."

Colombian traffickers have been making increased use of Caribbean islands
as transit points for U.S.-bound cocaine. U.S. officials say corruption is
a problem on many islands, St. Kitts included.

A recent article in Newsweek magazine said Miller openly helped finance the
campaign of St. Kitts Prime Minister Denzil Douglas three years ago.
Douglas denies having any links to Miller.

Rubin said U.S. officials have Douglas' commitment to do everything
possible to protect American citizens.

"We urged St. Kitts security forces to increase their readiness and to be
on alert, and have asked the government to bring in Caribbean regional
police from nearby islands," he said.

Another Grenada?

Fifteen years ago, the Reagan administration was worried about the fate of
American medical students in Grenada after a hard-line Marxist regime
assumed power there. President Reagan sent 20,000 U.S. troops to the island
and deposed the government.

No American students were harmed.

A U.S. official acknowledged there are some parallels between Grenada and
St. Kitts but said a major difference is that, unlike Grenada, the United
States is able to work with the St. Kitts government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)