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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN class=bigheadline><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Accused
Cuban bomber arrested by US </FONT></B></SPAN><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><BR></B><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN class=all>By Edward Alden in <?xml:namespace prefix
= st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State
w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> and Andy Webb-Vidal in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Caracas</st1:City></st1:place></SPAN><BR><SPAN
class=all>FT: May 17 2005 </SPAN><IMG height=20
src="cid:218074801@18052005-1470" width=1
v:shapes="_x0000_i1025"><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=fp style="MARGIN: auto 0cm"><!--startclickprintexclude--><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">US authorities on Tuesday detained Luis
Posada Carriles in <st1:City w:st="on">Miami</st1:City>, setting up a
confrontation with <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> and
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> over whether the alleged
perpetrator of a 1976 aircraft bombing should be deported on terrorism-related
charges.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=fp style="MARGIN: auto 0cm"><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude--><BR><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">US Customs and Immigration (ICE) officials
said 77-year-old Mr Posada had been arrested “pending review of his immigration
status”. Under normal procedures, authorities would have 48 hours to decide
whether to charge him with an immigration-related offence or seek his
deportation.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><!--startclickprintexclude--><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr
Posada, a Cuban exile and long-time foe of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Fidel Castro</st1:City>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s president, is suspected of
involvement in the bombing of a Cuban airline that killed 73 passengers and
crew. Mr Castro has accused <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> of
betraying its own anti-terror stance by harbouring a fugitive wanted in
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> on
terrorism charges.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">US officials had claimed they were
unaware of Mr Posada's whereabouts, but he surfaced prominently on Tuesday in an
interview in the Miami Herald. In the interview, he boasted that “now I hide a
lot less. People have recognised me in the market, at the doctor's office.” He
repeated claims that he had played no role in the airline bombing, though in the
past he has admitted organising other attacks on Cuban
targets.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">The Herald reported on its web site
that Mr Posada was arrested after telling journalists in Miami on Tuesday
morning that he was prepared to leave the US in order to avoid triggering an
international incident between the US and Cuba.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">“Regarding my application for
political asylum in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United
States</st1:country-region>, I want to clarify that the Cuban dictator wishes to
create an international situation to damage the image of the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>,”
he was quoted as saying.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Castro on Tuesday organised huge
public demonstrations in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Havana</st1:place></st1:City> to demand the arrest and deportation of
Mr Posada.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">There is little chance of that
happening. The <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> immigration
department said: “As a matter of immigration law and policy, ICE does not
generally remove people to <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region>, nor does ICE generally remove people to
countries believed to be acting on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
behalf.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Posada is also wanted by
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>, which formally
lodged an extradition request with the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> last week, the State Department
confirmed. But any decision to extradite the veteran anti-Castro plotter to
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region> would be fiercely
challenged by the Cuban exile community in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>, where many
see Mr Posada as a hero.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Hugo Chávez, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:country-region>'s president, is a close ally of Mr
Castro, and experts believe the Venezuelan authorities could hand Mr Posada over
to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">As Mr Castro's public enemy number
one, Mr Posada would probably face death by firing squad in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>. After
claiming involvement in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region>, Mr Posada arrived in
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the 1960s and was
employed in counter-insurgency operations. Later, he bragged that he worked with
the US-backed Contras in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:country-region> in the 1980s, and claimed to have
directed several bomb attacks in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Havana</st1:place></st1:City>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Oddly, however, former Venezuelan
intelligence police recall that Mr Posada was dubbed “Bambi” for his doe-like
character and unsteady footing as a spy.</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><!--startclickprintexclude--><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><IMG height=12 src="cid:218074801@18052005-1477"
width=1 v:shapes="_x0000_i1026"><SPAN class=bigheadline>Bush's war on terror put
to test by fugitive from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region></SPAN><BR></FONT></B><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN class=all>By Marc Frank in Havana
</SPAN><BR><SPAN class=all>FT: May 17 2005 </SPAN><IMG height=20
src="cid:218074801@18052005-1470" width=1
v:shapes="_x0000_i1027"><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=fp style="MARGIN: auto 0cm"><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude--><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">It has been nearly 29years since a terrorist
bomb blasted Cubana de Aviacion's Flight 455 out of the sky off the coast of
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Barbados</st1:place></st1:country-region>. But the people of
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region> have not forgiven the October
1976 incident, which killed 73 passengers and crew, including the country's
youthful fencing team.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P><!--startclickprintexclude-->
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">A prime suspect in the bombing -
Luis Posada Carriles, 77, a CIA-trained explosives expert - is seeking asylum in
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The move could challenge George
W. Bush's war on terrorism and his policy that those who finance and harbour
terrorists are equally guilty.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Today, in one of the biggest
political mobilisations orchestrated by Fidel Castro since the Cuban president
took power in 1959, hundreds of thousands are expected to protest against what
Mr Castro calls a US-based terrorist network. He says the organisation has
bombed and shot at the country's diplomats, airline officials, ships and other
soft targets abroad, and has attempted to assassinate Cuban leaders and
infiltrate the island to incite mayhem.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Castro has embarked on a
marathon of 20 televised speeches over the past month, hammering away at Bush
administration inaction over Mr Posada, in the <st1:City
w:st="on">Miami</st1:City> area since March, his attorneys and friends say, but
whose whereabouts the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> government insists are
unknown.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Posada has admitted organising
dozens of attacks on Cuban leaders and soft targets but denies involvement in
the Cubana incident.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">He once confessed to a series of
1987 <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Havana</st1:place></st1:City>
hotel and restaurant bombings that left an Italian businessman dead and 11 other
tourists injured. He is a fugitive from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>, where he holds citizenship
and which formally requested his extradition on Friday in a letter to the State
Department.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">The Homeland Security Department
confirmed last week that Mr Posada had applied for political asylum. But the
State Department has been non-committal, insisting last week that it did not
know Mr Posada's whereabouts and deflecting to the Justice Department questions
on whether the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> even considers Mr Posada a
terrorist.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Castro accuses the Bush
administration of not moving on Mr Posada because it would enrage Mr Bush's
Cuban-American supporters in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>, where his brother, Jeb Bush, is
governor.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">"We have to demand that justice be
done and that Posada Carriles and his accomplices be arrested and punished for
their crimes," Mr Castro said last week. "Do not imagine the protests will cease
[if Mr Posada is arrested and deported]," he said.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Mr Castro added that he wanted to
bring to justice other "terrorists in <st1:City w:st="on">Miami</st1:City>" and
free five of his agents captured in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Miami</st1:place></st1:City> in the late 1990s and sentenced to long
prison terms as spies. "The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> is responsible for all
the terrorist attacks on our country since the revolution," Mr Castro
said.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> has sent dozens of agents to <st1:City
w:st="on">Miami</st1:City> since the 1960s, when exiles, frustrated by the
failed <st1:place w:st="on">Bay of Pigs</st1:place> invasion, began attacking
any Cuban target they could find. The agents helped thwart numerous attempts to
assassinate Mr Castro and to send commandos into <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region>. They have
compiled dossiers on dozens of exiles who, <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Cuba</st1:place></st1:country-region> says,
organised, financed and carried out terrorist
activities.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">"The declassified record leaves no
doubt that Posada has been one of the world's most unremitting purveyors of
terrorist violence," says Peter Kornbluh, of the private National Security
Archive research project at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">George</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Washington</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. The Posada case will prove a
litmus test in the war on terrorism, he said.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Declassified <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> intelligence
records posted on the National Security Agency web page last week identified Mr
Posada and Orlando Bosch, his associate and reputed leader of the Coru
anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organisation, as the engineers of the 1976
aircraft bombing. The records link them to other terrorist acts, including a car
bomb that killed Orlando Letelier, the exiled Chilean foreign minister, and his
<st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> aide in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> two weeks
after the Cubana explosion.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">President George H. W. Bush was the
Central Intelligence Agency's director when the Cubana aircraft exploded, and
vice-president when Mr Posada began running arms illegally to Nicaraguan contras
after bribing his way out of a Venezuelan prison during legal wrangling over his
role in the bombing. In 1990 - over the objections of the Justice Department,
which called Mr Bosch "a terrorist, unfettered by laws or human decency" - Mr
Bush authorised Mr Bosch's entry into the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Venezuela</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Arrested in 2000 and convicted in
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Panama</st1:place></st1:country-region>, along with three Cuban-
Americans, in a plot to blow up Mr Castro, Mr Posada and his co-conspirators
were pardoned. Mr Posada's associates flew directly to <st1:City
w:st="on">Miami</st1:City> but he disappeared, surfacing later in the
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> to become Mr Castro's perfect
issue in a campaign to neutralise his most intractable
foes.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
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