HAVANA SEEKS CRIME PACT

Items Compiled From Tribune News Services

HAVANA, CUBA -- Cuba announced Monday that it was holding an alleged
Colombian drug trafficker sought in his homeland and the United States and
challenged the U.S. to sign an agreement allowing the two countries to
cooperate in the fight against narcotics smuggling.

The Cuban government did not say whether it would hand over Rafael Miguel
Bustamante Bolanos if such an agreement was signed. But it suggested it
would be more cooperative if accords existed.

For several years, President Fidel Castro and Cuban officials have been
trying to persuade Washington to sign such an agreement. They argue that
this impoverished island has limited law-enforcement resources and needs
the technological resources and expertise of the United States in its fight
against narcotics smuggling.

So far, the U.S. has expressed no interest in such an agreement with a
country it has not had diplomatic relations with for four decades.