May
24, 2007
US
insists it is acting in 'good faith' over Posada Carriles
AFP
WASHINGTON
(AFP) — The United States is acting in "good faith"
in the case of anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles, who
is wanted in Venezuela over the 1976 bombing of an airliner, a
US official said Thursday.
Tom Shannon, the top US diplomat for Latin America, made the assurance
a day after Venezuela presented a draft resolution in the Organization
of American States (OAS) urging Washington to extradite Posada
Carriles.
The former CIA operative was arrested in May 2005 after entering
the United States illegally, but released May 8 after a US judge
in El Paso, Texas dismissed immigration fraud charges against
him.
Shannon told reporters Posada Carriles was still facing an expulsion
order from immigration authorities, and that the Justice Department
"is still examining Venezuela's extradition request."
"We are acting in good faith, recognizing our laws and obligations
under international laws," Shannon said after a forum in
Washington.
"We have told this to our colleagues at the OAS and individually
to their governments," he said.
Posada Carriles' recent release outraged Venezuela and Cuba, who
consider him a terrorist and accuse the Cuban-born Venezuelan
of being behind the downing of a Cuban airliner that left 73 people
dead. The plane had taken off from Caracas and he is accused of
plotting the bombing in Venezuela.
Venezuela's OAS draft resolution expresses support for its extradition
request and states "profound concern" over the recent
release of Posada Carriles.
In 2005, a US immigration judge ruled out deporting Posada Carriles
to Venezuela or Cuba, citing the UN Convention Against Torture
prohibiting governments from extraditing or deporting individuals
to countries where there is a pattern of torture or flagrant human
rights abuses.
In Havana, Cuban officials used the pages of the Communist Party
daily Granma to blast the silence among European nations over
the Posada Carriles case.
"Nothing has been said in Europe" in the past days over
the case, and especially "nothing from any of those European
parties that say they are engaged in the struggle against terrorism
and violence," read the article.
"And when Europe, finally, frowns, tightens its fist and
decides to open its mouth, it censures Cuba for its lack of respect
for human rights," the article read.
Copyright
2007 AFP. All rights reserved.
