6-04-08, 3:00 pm

Caracas, Jun 4 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela expressed suspicion Wednesday of a hearing for terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in US that could be followed by a pardon and evasion of his extradition.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro requested Tuesday that Washington release Posada to be tried in this country for causing the midair bombing of a civilian airplane in 1976 that killed 73 people.

Speaking at the Organization of America States' General Assembly held in Medellin, Colombia, Maduro said this will be a good opportunity for the United States to prove its commitment to fighting terrorism.

The New Orleans hearing has so far only alluded to Posada Carriles' violation immigration laws.

According to Jose Pertierra, representing Venezuela for the Posada extradition, the hearing is a US government pretext to neglect his country's request.

Interviewed on the multi-state Telesur channel, Pertierra said it was ridiculous that the appeal hearing is not for terrorism or homicide, but for lying to the immigration service.

He said it was possible that President George W. Bush could pardon Posada before ending his term in office, as his father did with Orlando Bosch, who has been linked to Posada in the bombing of the Cuban civilian plane in 1976.

Pertierra talked about the possibility of trying Posada for a series of bomb attacks on Havana hotels in 1997, which killed an Italian tourist.

The attorney noted that additional proof of Posada's role in anti-Cuba terrorism surfaced with new allegations publicized in Havana appeared to show that Michael Parmly, chief of the US Interest Section there, took cash from Miami-based Santiago Alvarez, Posada's main accomplice, and disbursed it to anti-Cuba groups in that country.

Pertierra recalled that Alvarez is currently imprisoned in the US for possessing an arsenal of illegal weapons. Alvarez also is known to have attended the meeting where the terrorist bombing of the Cuban airplane was planned, helped Posada to leave Panama and illegally took Posada to the United States.

Prensa Latina