Reuters on Fidel Seeks Apology from Czech Govt Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Saturday February 3 11:24 AM ET Cuba Seeks Apology in Case of Detained Czechs By Pascal Fletcher HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba can prove two prominent Czechs arrested after meeting anti-Castro dissidents on the island broke Cuban laws, and it wants an apology, President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) said. "We are telling the truth and we have proof," Castro said on Friday night in his first public comments on a case which has badly soured already strained ties between erstwhile Socialist-era allies Havana and Prague. The Czech government is seeking the release of former Finance Minister Ivan Pilip and ex-student leader Jan Bubenik, arrested Jan. 12 in central Cuba and accused of "subversive contacts" with opposition activists. During a six-hour speech on Friday night, the Cuban leader defended his country's "dignified and honorable position" over the two Czechs, whom he said were detained after being caught trying to promote "subversion and destabilization." This constituted "serious violations of our laws," Castro said. "Let the reality be admitted with our proofs, and let there be an apology made to our country," Castro added. "There has to be an apology," he went on, reinforcing an earlier Cuban call for a "honorable solution" to the diplomatic deadlock in a case that has drawn stern protests from Prague, Washington and the European Union (news - web sites). Czech President Vaclav Havel -- himself a former anti- communist dissident -- and other Czech leaders have so far ruled out an apology and have condemned the arrests as a human rights abuse. Czech Envoy To Leave Havana Castro's comments coincided with a mission to Havana by Czech Senate President Petr Pithart, who had flown to Cuba to try to negotiate the release of the detained pair. Pithart, who held talks with Cuban officials and visited the pair in custody, Thursday delayed his scheduled departure from Havana to Saturday at the request of Castro. He was due to leave Havana later on Saturday aboard an Air France flight to Paris, Czech diplomats said. Raising hopes of a breakthrough in the case, Pithart had said Thursday the Cuban charges against the two detained Czechs were being modified, but he declined to offer details. Castro did not mention this in his speech Friday night, in which he insisted Cuba could clearly prove wrongdoing by the pair and wanted an apology. Havana has accused the Czechs of being "agents" of U.S. interests, and following the directives of the U.S.-based Freedom House organization -- known for its opposition to Castro -- in meeting and seeking to help local dissidents. Pilip's wife, Lucie Pilipova, told Reuters she was due to see her husband later on Saturday, part of the regular daily family visits allowed for the Czechs, who are being held at the Villa Marista state security headquarters in Havana. Pilipova said her husband's defense lawyer would also be reviewing the case against him with Cuban authorities. Pithart was in Cuba on Castro's personal invitation after writing a letter requesting the pair's release, and assuring the Cuban leader they were not working for the United States. Pilip and Bubenik were arrested after meeting dissident journalist Antonio Femenias and rights activist Roberto Valdivia in central Ciego de Avila province. Havana regards all dissidents as U.S.-backed counter- revolutionaries, and outlaws all overt opposition activities. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-02.03.01-21:30:39-1223