Bermuda should quit whining about problems with the old US bases, the former leader of the Island's smallest political party said.

And one-time National Liberal Party chief and MP Gilbert Darrell added that the US military guaranteed Bermuda's safety and freedom in the darkest days of World War II.

Mr. Darrell said that both main political parties missed the point on the bases in House of Assembly statements on the subject.

He claimed: "The comments centred on the economic impact of the bases and the clean-up issue.

"The UBP, as is their fixation, dwelt on the money issue of the base and the key role in the growth of tourism.

"Meanwhile, the PLP focussed on the environmental mess left behind since the closure and the lost income from the rent-free usage of Bermuda land.'' Mr. Darrell admitted that there were "outstanding issues'' arising out of the state of the bases when they were handed back in 1995.

But he insisted: "However, the most fundamental fact escaped both political parties.

"Bermuda as we know it today would not have existed and most black Bermudians would have died in German concentration camps or been a part of the Holocaust in the ovens.

"The US bases basically insured our freedom.'' Mr. Darrell said that German U-boat `wolf packs' roamed the Atlantic at the outbreak of the war, sinking ships and claiming lives, including boats headed to the Island with vital supplies, while convoys assembled in Bermuda often suffered severe casualties on the long and dangerous trip to the UK.

He added: "Let us never forget that our present freedom is built on the backs of the American bases -- it is the bedrock of our very freedom and survival in the 20th century.'' Both the current Government and the former one have been locked in talks with the US in a row over who will pay to clean up the old US Naval Air Station in St. David's and the US Naval Annex in Southampton.

The news came as the tiny central American country of Panama went on the offensive over the state of US bases either handed back or due to be returned to the host country.

Panamanian president Ernesto Perez Balladares has demanded that the US clear up dangerous explosives and chemicals left behind on three areas used as training grounds by the US Army.

And Panamanian foreign secretary-general Daniel Delgado Diamante warned that his country was ready to take "international or legal action'' to force the US to clean up its mess.

Panama -- like Bermuda -- sees the bases as a valuable tourist asset or as land which could be used as farming.

The US has already promised to clean up the land and has cleared away some of its potentially deadly litter.

But they insisted a full clean-up was not possible -- on the odd grounds of protecting the environment.

But Mr. Delgado Diamante said: "They have cleaned up the areas which are clear or easy to reach, but not the forests. Panama considers the measures insufficient and inefficient.'' US Ambassador to Panama Simon Ferro said, however, that a total clean-up would severely damage the densely-forested mountain areas which make up much of the old war games areas.

And he added: "It would be unpardonable to destroy the forest.'' Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister could not be contacted for comment.

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