American civilian employee from the base.

Mr. Kenneth Dozier said on Monday indecent assault charges against him had been dropped by the woman who brought them against him, therefore, he should be allowed back on the base where he works as a forklift operator with the Navy Exchange.

He claimed the NAS did not want to hear his side of the story because he is black.

But a NAS spokeswoman said the woman, who is in the US Navy, had not dropped charges against Mr. Dozier. And she denied Mr. Dozier's claims of racism on the base saying a formal complaint of that nature had never been received.

"The charges were dropped by the magistrate at the request of the US Government,'' the spokeswoman said. "She (the complainant) had nothing to do with it.'' The spokeswoman explained the request was made because the US Government did not want to "burden'' the Bermuda Government with having to pay for a trial involving two Americans.

"He would still be facing the charges if the US Government had not requested they be dropped,'' she said.

"The US Government has requested and been granted by the Bermudian authorities a waiver of jurisdiction from Bermuda to America in order to pursue the charges in the federal court system. Both parties in this case are US citizens and it is the intention of the United States to present the information concerning this case to the US Attorney's office in Washington, DC, for a determination of prosecutorial merit.

"The actions in this case are based solely on the assessment of the available evidence.'' The spokeswoman said the allegations had been investigated by both the Bermuda Police and the Naval Investigative Service agent.

Mr. Dozier, who is married to a member of the US Navy and has two children, is to be deported later this month.