Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his government would reconsider its diplomatic ties with the United States if the US government does not extradite Luis Posada Carriles, who was a Venezuelan citizen accused of terrorism by Cuba.

If the United States does not hand over Posada to Venezuela, " we will have to consider whether it's worth having an embassy there (in the United States), and whether it's worth the United States having an embassy here," Chavez said.

Chavez said the US government has not shown any intention of extraditing Posada to Venezuela so far and Venezuela would take actions to bring it to the International Court of Justice.

Posada, 77, was born in Cuba and gained Venezuelan citizenship in 1960. He was sentenced to jail in Venezuela after participating in a bomb attack on a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed 73 people.

After a successful escape from prison in Venezuela in 1985, Posada was involved in a series of bomb attacks in Havana and attempts to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Posada illegally entered the United States two months ago and tried to seek asylum there through his lawyer in April.

The Venezuelan government asked the United States to extradite Posada to Venezuela right after Posada's appealing for the US asylum.

US Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield said in Caracas last Friday that the United States will apply its own laws to the case of Posada.

Washington arrested Posada for having entered US territory illegally last Tuesday, but has so far refused to hand him over to Venezuela.

Source: Xinhua