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 planing 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.

Source: Xinhua