Jamaica cats Cuba tie

Press, 31 October 1981, Page 8

Jamaica cats Cuba tie

NZPA-Reuter Kingston The Jamaican Prime Minister (Mr Edward Seaga) has announced that Jamaica has broken diplomatic relations with Cuba because authorities in Havana were harbouring criminals wanted by Jamaican police. Mr Seaga told. Parliament that the Cuban charge d’affaires had been instructed to close down his country’s embassy in Kingston and given 48 hours to leave the country.

Mr Seaga, who shortly after becoming Prime Minister a year ago expelled the Cuban Ambassador, said he had maintained diplomatic relations with Havana so far on a basis of mutual noninterference in internal affaire.

The Prime Minister said that tape recordings and letters recently seized by the police indicated that three Jamaicans wanted locally on murder charges were now in Cuba.

He identified the three as George Flash, Michael Anderson, and Anthony Brown, the last dubbed by the police as Jamaica’s “most wanted” criminal. Brown is accused of three murders.

Mr Seaga said the recordings and letters were found in the possession of the People’s National Party youth organisation chairman, Paul Burke, who was recently detained by the police. The Prime Minister said the discovery had serious consequences for the involve-

ment of Cuba in Jamaica’s internal affairs and for the Jamaican . Opposition which he said had failed to dissocciate itself from Mr Burke. The Opposition denounced the move.

He recalled that Mr Burke, whom he described as a “confidant of criminals,” was suspended from the P.N.P. in 1978 for defending a wanted criminal.

Mr Seaga added that the Left-wing P.N.P. which his conservative Labour party defeated in the General Election a year ago had maintained cordial relations with Cuba and that the Opposition must have been aware of the situation. He said he was revealing only the tip of the iceberg regarding the Cuban affair.