ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- Aruban officials have appealed to the State Department and the Netherlands for help against a call for a tourist boycott of the Dutch Caribbean island over complaints the investigation into the disappearance of an Alabama teenager was mishandled.Tourism Minister Edison Briesen said Wednesday that it's too early to determine whether a call by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley to boycott the island due to the handling of the Natalee Holloway case has led to any cancellations."We are aware that if nothing is being done that there might be a negative effect," Briesen said.Riley called for a travel boycott of Aruba on Tuesday on behalf of a the missing teenager's family, who accuse the island's government of not fully cooperating with the investigation into her disappearance. (Full story)He asked his fellow U.S. governors to join him in urging the boycott of Aruba, where the 18-year-old honors student was last seen on May 30 leaving a bar with three young local men. The young men were held for a time but have been released.Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway-Twitty, joined Riley at the Alabama Capitol for the boycott announcement. She contends Aruban authorities have failed to adequately investigate the possible murder and has called for the removal of three top law enforcement officials in the case.Prime Minister Nelson Oduber told reporters that his government hopes the State Department will help halt a boycott that could damage Aruba's crucial tourist industry."This is a preposterous and irresponsible act," Oduber said Tuesday night after attending a closed session with members of Parliament. "We are not terrorists. We don't pose a threat to the United States, nor to Alabama."On Wednesday, Aruba's Parliament wrote a letter to the Dutch Foreign Ministry urging it to intervene to halt the threatened boycott. The letter called outside demands for the replacement of Aruban justice officials "an infringement on the sovereignty of the (Dutch) Kingdom.""This (boycott) call can have serious financial consequences for our country, especially considering that tourism is our most important source of income," Mervin Ras, president of the Parliament, wrote in the letter that was released to the media.The prime minister, while expressing sympathy for the family of the missing Alabama teenager, said Aruban investigators have done their best to solve the mystery and the entire island doesn't deserve to be punished because there has been no resolution to the case."We condemn and lament what has happened to Aruba," he said.The tourist minister said that tour operators told him last week the effects of a boycott would be minimal in Aruba's traditional market of the northeastern United States but could make it harder to attract visitors to the island from other parts of the country.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.