Havana - Cuba Wednesday condemned a US court's decision to
drop charges against Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles, who is accused
in Venezuela and Cuba of acts of terrorism.
'The decision to free Posada was made a long time ago by the White
House,' the Communist Party daily Granma noted. 'Prosecutors never
charged him for what he is: a terrorist, and legal devices were used
to cover up the judicial farce.'
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed all seven counts of
immigration fraud on Tuesday, based on a motion filed by the defence,
only three days before Posada Carriles' trial was due to begin in a
Texas court, a spokeswoman for his lawyer confirmed to Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa.
Posada Carriles, 79, is accused by Havana and Caracas of the 1976
bombing of a Cuban airliner, which killed 73 people. His 350,000-
dollar release on bail last month pending the trial had already been
strongly criticized by both countries and provoked rallies in Cuba.
Cuban state media on Tuesday criticized the judge's 'cynical'
decision and called the trial against Posada Carriles a 'farce.'
Posada Carriles' trial in the US was on charges that he lied to
immigration officials and on an application to obtain US citizenship
last year, including about how he entered the country in March 2005.
Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have all called for Posada Carriles'
extradition, and had criticized the US for trying Posada Carriles on
lesser immigration charges.
US courts have refused extradition requests for the one-time CIA
operative, saying that Posada Carriles could face torture in
Venezuela or Cuba.
Posada was convicted in Venezuela of being one of the masterminds
of the airliner bombing, but he escaped from prison after eight years
and joined US-directed covert counterinsurgency operations in Central
America.
He was also convicted in 2000 in Panama of attempting to murder
Cuban President Fidel Castro, but was pardoned four years later by a
Panamanian president closely allied with the US.
Cuba has also accused Posada Carriles of masterminding a string of
1997 bombings at Cuban tourist sites, in which one Italian tourist
was killed.
In an article published on Tuesday, Cuban President Fidel Castro
called Posada Carriles a 'monster' and once again condemned the
earlier decision to free him on bail.
US prosecutors were still reviewing Tuesday's ruling and had not
yet decided whether to appeal, The Miami Herald reported, citing a US
Justice Department spokesman.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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