US immigration authorities detained on Tuesday a Cuban exile accused of bombing a Cuban airliner in 1976 and sought by the Cuban government, US media reported.

Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative who had been seeking asylum in the United States, was detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Florida on Tuesday, the report said.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has urged the United States to arrest Posada instead of harboring him and condemned the United States for exercising double standard in dealing with Posada.

Venezuela has also asked the Bush administration to deport Posada to face trial for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

Posada was also connected to a series of 1997 bombings of tourists sites in Cuba, one of which killed an Italian tourist.

Source: Xinhua