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US to deal with Posada case
according to its own laws:
official
The United States will apply its
own laws to the case of Luis
Posada Carriles, who was accused
of terrorism by Cuba, said a
senior US official here Friday.
In an interview with local radio
Unionradio, US Ambassador to
Venezuela William Brownfield
said that the US order of
arresting the presumed terrorist
of Cuban origin and Venezuela
nationality is an evidence of
this decision.
Any comment, insult or criticism
on this decision, will not
change the fact that the United
States decides the case
according to its own laws,
Brownfield said.
Washington arrested Posada for
having entered US territory
illegally on Tuesday, but has so
far refused to hand him over to
Venezuela.
Brownfield considered as likely
a deportation of Posada to
Venezuela, which has officially
requested his extradition from
the United States, but the
decision is up to the legal
system of the United States.
Posada, 77, a Cuban-born exile
with Venezuelan citizenship,
participated in the alleged
organization of an attack on a
Cuban airliner in 1976 that
exploded while flying over the
waters of Barbados. The tragedy
killed 73 people.
He was also involved in a series
of bomb attacks in Havana in
1997, which led to the death of
an Italian vacationer.
He was sentenced to jail by a
Venezuela court for his part in
the organization of the 1976
attack on the Cuban airliner,
but escaped in 1985.
Posada illegally entered the
United States two months ago and
tried to seek asylum there
through his lawyer in April.
The ambassador said that the
Posada case reflected the
difficult relations between the
United States and Venezuela.
Also in the interview, the
ambassador ruled out that his
country has plans to invade
Venezuela or kill President Hugo
Chavez.
"We are not thinking about
magnicide, invasion or coup
d'etat at this moment either,"
said the ambassador.
The Venezuelan government
accused the United States of
planning an intervention in
Venezuela or the assassination
of Chavez, which has been
rebuffed by Washington.
What's more, lamenting the
distance between Venezuela and
his country in fighting
drug-trafficking, Brownfield
called for cooperation between
the two countries in this field,
saying there exist opportunities
to augment cooperation.
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