CHARLOTTE AMALIE U.S. Virgin Islands AP Less than two weeks before Puerto Ricans vote the preference on statehood the incoming governor of the neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands says he wants more rights for his territory but not statehood. ``We want the full degree of American freedoms under the U.S. flag'' Gov.-elect Charles Turnbull said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. ``We are American citizens and I think we should have the right.'' He added however that he would not seek to become a state but would fight for many of the same rights. ``Our delegate in the Congress can't vote on the floor. We would want that'' he said. ``We could vote for president and vice president of the United States. I don't see why we can't do that.'' Inhabitants of the islands are now considered U.S. citizens and have a non-voting representative in Congress. They are not allowed to participate in U.S. presidential elections. The country is considered an unincorporated territory of the United States administered by the Department of the Interior and U.S. currency is used. Defense is the responsiblity of the United States. Turnbull said he would call a constitutional convention which he hoped would result in a petition for improved status to the United States which bought the territory from Denmark in 1917 for strategic purposes. Four previous conventions ended in deadlock. Turnbull was interviewed during a break between meetings with U.S. and other business leaders he hoped would invest in the islands and help them overcome a debt estimated at about dlrs 1 billion a monumental sum in a territory of about 114000 people Turnbull bemoaned the misconception that the territory was devastated by a series of hurricanes that struck in recent years beginning with Hugo in 1989 the first major storm after a half-century of relative calm and leading up to September's Hurricane Georges. ``We intend to market the islands better to attract more tourists'' he said. APW19981201.1246.txt.body.html APW19981201.0105.txt.body.html