Castro blames US for plane hijack attempt

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-09-2007 08:51

Cuba's President Fidel Castro is seen speaking in this Tuesday, March 21, 2006 file photo in Havana. Fidel Castro was a no-show on May Day, 2007, missing his third straight major public event and disappointing hundreds of thousands of marchers. [AP]

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has blamed a recent, failed plane-hijack attempt on the release of what he's called "an anti-communist militant" from US custody.

In a newspaper statement on Monday, Castro said the US decision to release Luis Posada Carriles had "triggered" an attempt by three soldiers to hijack a bus and a plane in Havana.

One was captured before last Thursday's attempt. But the other two seized a plane, and demanded to be flown to the US. They killed a sentry and an officer before being captured.

Carriles himself has been accused by both Cuba and Venezuela of a deadly plane-bombing in 1976. Cuba has also named him as the mastermind behind a string of hotel explosions in Havana ten years ago.

Editor:Du Xiaodan