Cuban President Castro says U.S. exile group plotting to kill him

PANAMA CITY, Panama - Cuban President Fidel Castro said Friday that a U.S.-based group of Cuban exiles was plotting to assassinate him while he attends the Ibero-American summit of Latin American and European leaders.

At a news conference at his hotel, Castro said the group ''has sent people to Panama with the purpose of eliminating me physically.''

''They are already in Panama and they have introduced weapons and explosives,'' he said.

Castro said the group was directed by ''the infamous Luis Posada Carriles, a cowardly man totally without scruples.''

Castro noted that Posada was suspected of sponsoring the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviacion jetliner. Posada Carriles was twice acquitted of bombing the Cubana airliner, but spent nine years in a Venezuelan prison before escaping in 1985.

Castro said he was willing to cooperate with Panamanian authorities, but added that ''we feel that Panamanian authorities have the duty to locate the terrorist leader and his accomplices, keep them from escaping ... arrest them and take them to court.''

Panamanian officials had no immediate comment.

Castro, 74, arrived in Panama City on Friday for the summit of 19 Latin American nations, along with Portugal and Spain.

At the airport, he praised Panama for achieving ''full sovereignty'' with the December 1999 handover of the formerly U.S.-owned Panama Canal and the departure of U.S. troops, who maintained a presence in the country for 97 years.

With Panama a stronghold of U.S. influence, Washington's least-favorite Latin leader had never visited the country since taking power in 1959.

The Ibero-American leaders planned to adopt resolutions attacking exploitation and other problems affecting children before ending their summit on Saturday.

They were expected to promise to dedicate more resources to aid children in a region where many live in poverty and must drop out of school.

Two presidents said they would not be able to attend: Peru's Alberto Fujimori and Nicaragua's Arnoldo Aleman.

El Salvador proposed a resolution condemning political violence, especially that of the Basque separatist group ETA in Spain, but Cuba reportedly balked at singling out ETA.

Panama's foreign minister, Jose Miguel Aleman, said the foreign ministers at the summit had not discussed the U.S. presidential election.