Venezuela's Interior Minister Says US Must Extradite Cuban Militant

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB8LVMOU8E.html

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's interior minister said Tuesday the United States must extradite a Cuban exile wanted for his alleged role in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner as required under a treaty between the two nations.

Jesse Chacon said that Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative who was detained in Miami by U.S. authorities on Tuesday afternoon, "must pay for the crimes he committed."

Posada had been seeking asylum in the United States, but he said earlier Tuesday he was willing to leave the United States, drop his request for asylum and move to another country.

But Posada, who is wanted by authorities in both Cuba and Venezuela, was detained before he could leave, said Santiago Alvarez, his friend and benefactor.

Posada is wanted in Venezuela for escaping from prison in 1985 while awaiting a prosecutor's appeal of his second acquittal in the Cubana Airlines bombing, which killed 73 people. Recently declassified CIA and FBI documents quoted informants linking Posada to planning meetings for those bombings.

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