Cuban Diplomat Expelled From U.S.

Cuba says it won't willingly recall a Washington-based diplomat targeted for expulsion. Instead, the Havana government will instruct him to stay in the U.S. and defend himself against accusations of spying.

Cuba is accusing the U.S. government of using the espionage issue to try to block the return of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his communist homeland.

Havana's position was outlined in a letter that was read aloud during a huge televised rally in eastern Cuba.

The letter says the government will recommend that the diplomat "remain in United States territory to give testimony and demonstrate the total falseness of this accusation, whatever the consequences may be."

The U.S. State Department ordered the expulsion of the unidentified diplomat after he was linked to a Cuban-born U.S. immigration official arrested in Miami this week on spy charges.

The diplomat, whose name was not released, has been given seven days to leave the country, State Department spokesman James Foley said.

The Cuban official was ordered out of the country for activities "incompatible with his diplomatic status," Foley said.

Although Foley did not go into detail, the diplomat apparently was a Washington contact of Mariano Faget, a 34-year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service who was arrested Thursday night as the result of a government sting operation.

Faget, 54, a supervisor in the Miami office of the INS, may have been passing on classified information about Cuban defectors for some time, authorities said.

According to court papers, Faget met with Cuban intelligence officials in Miami on at least two occasions, contacted officials with the Cuban mission in Washington and had regular contact with a man he called last week in the sting a New York businessman with ties to the Cuban government.

Foley said the State Department acted against the Cuban diplomat in response to evidence presented by the FBI.

Felix Wilson, the acting head of the Cuban diplomatic mission, formally known as the Cuban interests section, was summoned to the State Department Saturday afternoon and informed of the expulsion order.

This is believed to be the first Cuban diplomat asked to leave the United States since 1996. Then, the mission spokesman, Jose Luis Ponce, was asked to leave in retaliation for the expulsion of an American diplomat from Havana.

In August 1996, Cuba expelled Robin Meyer, a diplomat with the political-economic section of the U.S. mission in Havana. Her primary responsibility was human rights. Cuba charged that Meyer had carried out activities "incompatible with her diplomatic status."

Faget was arrested Thursday after falling into a trap set by the FBI. Federal agents fed him phony information about a pending defection and then allegedly caught him passing it on just 12 minutes later to a contact with ties to the Cuban government.

Authorities said they had been investigating Faget for a year buwouldn't say how long they believe he had been passing on classified information. They also said they were uncertain about the effects of his alleged espionage whether any Cubans were prevented from defecting.

From the out set, U.S. has maintained that Faget had absolutely no connection or influence in the Elian Gonzalez case.

Faget is charged with violating the federal Espionage Act and making false statements to a federal officer. The first charge carries up to 10 years in prison; the second could bring five years.

Appearing in court Friday, Faget was ordered held until a bail hearing Feb. 24.

CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report