US immigration officials on Thursday charged Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles with entering the United States illegally and this could lead to his deportation to another country, US media said.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials also said that Posada would be held without bond pending a hearing before an immigration judge scheduled for June 13.

US immigration authorities on Tuesday detained Posada who was accused of bombing a Cuban airliner in 1976 and sought by the Cuban government.

Posada, a former CIA operative who had been seeking asylum in the United States, was detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Florida on Tuesday.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has urged the United States to arrest Posada instead of harboring him and condemned the United States for exercising double standard in dealing with Posada.

Venezuela has also asked the Bush administration to deport Posada to face trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

Posada was also connected to a series of 1997 bombings of tourists sites in Cuba, one of which killed an Italian tourist.

Source: Xinhua