Militant, 79, Is Released By U.S. to House Arrest

Anti-Castro Activist Wanted in 2 Nations

MIAMI, April 19 -- Anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles, an ex-CIA operative suspected in a decades-old Cuban airliner bombing, was released from U.S. custody Thursday and flew to Miami as he awaits trial on immigration fraud charges.

Posada, 79, was released from a New Mexico jail after posting bond and went to his wife's house in Miami. He was required to post a $250,000 bond and his wife, daughter and son were required to post a $100,000 bond to secure his release.

A frail Posada was accompanied on the flight by U.S. marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. His daughter and lawyer helped him walk up to the second-floor apartment.

Posada's lawyer, Arturo Hernandez, said his client would be sent Friday to pretrial services, where he would receive an electronic monitoring device under the terms of his release.

"He talked a lot about Cuba, about his gratitude to the Cuban-American community at large. He was very nostalgic," Hernandez said of Posada's demeanor during the flight.

Posada, a former CIA operative, is awaiting a May 11 trial on allegations that he lied to immigration authorities while trying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Earlier this week, an appeals court in New Orleans rejected the federal government's bid to keep Posada jailed until his trial. The release order puts him under 24-hour house arrest and an electronic monitoring device.

Posada is wanted in his native Cuba and in Venezuela, where he is accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people.

A judge ruled that Posada could not be deported to those countries because he might be tortured, and no other country has agreed to take him.

Attorneys for Venezuela have argued that under international law, if the United States decides not to return Posada to Venezuela, it should try him on the bombing charges. Posada has denied taking part in the airline bombing.

Under the conditions of his release, Posada must try to find a country willing to take him, ICE officials said.

Posada has been jailed since March 2005, when he was caught in Miami and sent to El Paso to face immigration charges. In Miami, his return was hailed by some who view him as a freedom fighter.

"He's quite old and in bad health. We believe he should be with his family and will not be a risk," said Angel De Fana, who heads a Miami-based group that supports political prisoners in Cuba and wrote a letter in favor of Posada's release.