Ricky's message for Clinton

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin has a message for President Clinton: Stop bombing runs on the territory's island of Vieques.

"Puerto Rico is united in this cause and I'm part of it," Martin said in Friday's El Mundo newspaper.

The "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer has a tentative meeting scheduled next week with Clinton when he is in Washington for a benefit concert.

The Navy owns two-thirds of Vieques, a tiny island off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico. The military has conducted exercises using live bombs and other artillery on Vieques for decades.

Opposition to the bombing intensified in April when a Marine Corps jet dropped two bombs off target and killed a civilian security guard. Exercises were suspended after protesters set up camps on the range.