[JURIST] A Cuban-born anti-Castro former CIA operative withdrew his petition for asylum in the US Wednesday, stating that if he continued to testify, he was afraid he may have to reveal state secrets. Luis Posada Carriles [Wikipedia profile] entered the US illegally through Mexico [JURIST report] earlier this year. Venezuelan officials have requested the extradition of Carriles [JURIST report], where he is wanted on charges in connection to a 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, but Carriles has said he fears torture and imprisonment if returned to Cuba or Venezuela. Carriles' deportation hearing began Monday [JURIST report] before an immigration judge, but after withdrawing his petition for asylum, Carriles says he plans to instead apply for US citizenship under a law which allows illegal aliens who have served honorably in the US military to do so. Carriles was a CIA operative for one year in the 1960s. Reuters has more.