Nation IN BRIEF : U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS : St. Croix Residents Want Troops to Stay

Business owners and residents of St. Croix protested President Bush’s plan to withdraw 1,100 federal troops that were sent to the island to quell looting following Hurricane Hugo. The United Concerned Citizens of St. Croix said it joined the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Realtors to lobby the White House and Pentagon urging Bush to rescind the order. The Defense Department has announced that troops would be withdrawn within 20 days. “We have no electricity and telephones and we want to be safe on the island,” a full-page ad in the St. Croix Avis newspaper proclaimed.