PM INVITES BUSH TO EXPAND MILITARY PRESENCE IN BAHAMAS

NEW YORK (AP)--The Bahamas' prime minister said Wednesday he invited U.S.
President George W. Bush to consider expanding the U.S. military presence in
his country to help in the fight against terrorism and efforts to intercept
drug smugglers and illegal migrants.

Prime Minister Perry Christie was one of four Caribbean leaders to meet Bush at
a breakfast during the U.N. General Assembly's annual session. Guyana's
president and the prime ministers of St. Lucia and Grenada also attended.

Bahamian Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the Caribbean leaders
urged engagement with Cuba, in contrast to the Bush administration's tough
stance toward the communist government of Fidel Castro.

Christie praised the Cuban government for facilitating educational exchanges
with Caribbean countries, while also acknowledging that Cubans leaving the
country illegally -just as Haitian migrants -are posing challenges for the
Bahamas.

Christie said he told Bush that Great Inagua Island -close to both Cuba and
Haiti -"represented great possibilities for both America and the Bahamas to
establish a military outpost" from which the Bahamian and U.S. coast guards
could intercept migrants and drug smugglers.

An expanded U.S. military presence in the Bahamas would help "prevent the
Bahamas from being used as a jump-off spot for terrorism into the United
States," Christie said, adding that he felt Bahamians would accept a U.S.
military outpost.

Christie told reporters he reminded Bush "that when an aircraft takes off from
Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami, by the time it's airborne, it's over the
territory of the Bahamas."

The Bahamas has seen a flood of Haitian migrants arriving on rickety, crowded
boats, as well as smaller amounts of Cuban migrants, mainly seeking to reach to
U.S. shores.

Asked Bush's reaction, Christie said "he referred the matter to his advisers
for further review."

The U.S. Coast Guard already operates widely in the region picking up migrants,
seizing drugs and carrying out search and rescue operations. "We have a culture
where we understand very clearly the relationship between the American presence
and our stability," Christie said.

He also noted that the United States had granted $1 million to build a modern
runway on Great Inagua in order to land planes and military personnel there,
and he said he thought residents would welcome any additional economic benefits
of an expanded U.S. presence.

"I do not want to ever think of the possibility of terrorists using the Bahamas
against the U.S. or against U.S. interests," he said.

Grenada's prime minister, Keith Mitchell, said Bush expressed appreciation to
the 15-member Caribbean Community, also known as Caricom, for taking a serious
response to international terrorism. Describing the meeting as "extremely
productive," Mitchell said they also discussed relations with Cuba.

"I told the president that Caricom stands ready to facilitate more engagement
between America and Cuba on issues of common concern," Mitchell said. "We are
prepared to help in whatever way we can."

The meeting came after the United States suspended $48 million in aid to dozens
of countries, including six Caribbean nations, which failed to agree to exempt
Americans from prosecution under the new International Criminal Court.

In the Caribbean, the United States suspended a total of $3.1 million this year
- -aid used mainly in anti-drug efforts -to Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados,
Antigua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and Belize. None of their
leaders were invited to the breakfast, and Mitchell said the subject didn't
come up.

On the subject of offshore banking, Christie said his government will pass a
new anti-terrorism act in the next couple of weeks, intended to further crack
down on money laundering and other illegal activities.