US denies contractor held in Cuba was spying

US denies contractor held in Cuba was spying

Washington has labelled "false" Cuban claims that an American contractor
arrested at Havana airport last month was a US spy.

The US state department said the man did not work for American intelligence.

Earlier, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon said the unnamed man
was still under investigation and had not been charged.

The BBC's Michael Voss says the incident suggests US-Cuba ties have
again taken a turn for the worse.

Relations between the two countries had started to thaw after US
President Barack Obama came to office in January last year.

"Those comments are false. Cuba has a history of mischaracterising what
Americans and NGOs in Cuba are doing," said state department spokesman
PJ Crowley.

"This person is not associated with our intelligence services."

'Torturers, spies'

Washington said the detained man worked for an American company called
Development Alternatives, part of a US government programme aimed at
promoting civil society and democracy in Cuba.

The American was held at Havana airport on 5 December but was not seen
by US consular officials until 28 December.

"This is a gentleman hired by a company that hires for the American
secret services and is now the subject of an investigation," Mr Alarcon
told reporters in Havana.

He described it as an example of the "privatisation of war" by the US,
which hires people to be "agents, torturers, spies".

In an earlier speech, President Raul Castro said the man had been
illegally supplying opposition groups with advanced communications
equipment.

He also accused the US of continuing its attempts to subvert and destroy
the revolution, our correspondent in Havana reports.

BBC News - US denies contractor held in Cuba was spying (7 January 2010)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8447287.stm