DATE=2/26/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / CUBA DIPLOMAT (S)
NUMBER=2-259603
BYLINE=KYLE KING
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// EDS: Should be updated after U-S
authorities act or do not act on deadline ///
INTRO: A U-S based Cuban diplomat at the center of
spying allegations has refused to leave the United
States and says he has gone on a hunger strike to
prove his innocence. From Washington, V-O-A's Kyle
King reports.
TEXT: Cuban diplomat Jose Imperatori says he has been
wrongly accused of doing intelligence work in the
United States.
Speaking to reporters before a mid-afternoon deadline
for him to leave the country (1:30 PM EST), the
diplomat said he had resigned his post as a consular
affairs officer, and voluntarily given up his
diplomatic immunity.
The Clinton administration has accused the diplomat of
involvement with a senior U-S customs official who was
arrested earlier this month on charges of spying for
Cuba.
U-S officials say it is unprecedented for a diplomat
to refuse an expulsion order. They say the Cuban
diplomat will be subject to arrest if he does not
leave, something he says he will not do. (signed)
NEB/KBK/JP
26-Feb-2000 12:33 PM EDT (26-Feb-2000 1733 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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