[JURIST] A Cuban exile militant wanted in Venezuela for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner [Wikipedia backgrounder; additional materials] that killed 73 people was indicted [PDF] Thursday by a US federal grand jury in Texas on one count of naturalization fraud and six counts of making false statements. Luis Posada Carriles [Wikipedia profile; additional materials], 78, a former CIA operative trained by the US for the failed anti-Castro Bay of Pigs invasion, was initially detained by US immigration agents [JURIST report] in the Miami area in 2005. Under a federal magistrates recommendation in another legal proceeding he might have been released as early as February 1. The indictment marked the first US charges against him.

The US Justice Department said in a statement [text] that during a naturalization interview Posada made false statements concerning how he entered the US, claiming he crossed the Mexican border when he actually entered on a shrimp boat. Two of Carriles' associates were also indicted. No trial date has been set. In September a US immigration judge ruled that Posada could not be handed over [JURIST report] to Venezuela or to Cuba for prosecution on alleged terrorist acts because he could potentially face torture. AP has more.