A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

JAMAICA: Lawmaker urges police to clarify basis for murder theory in Woolmer death

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) _ An opposition lawmaker urged Jamaican security officials Monday to provide the basis of their theory that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was murdered, describing media reports to the contrary as a "global embarrassment" for the Caribbean nation.

Derrick Smith, of the Jamaica Labour Party, said the confusion raised by the conflicting accounts jeopardized the reputation of the country's police, who launched a murder inquiry following Woolmer's death.

"Announcements emerging from police and medical authorities in both Britain and Pakistan indicate that Mr. Woolmer's death was from natural causes and not murder as suggested by the Jamaica police authorities," Smith told a news conference. "The matter has become a global embarrassment for us."

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on March 18 and pronounced dead at a hospital. The previous day, his Pakistan team had lost in cricket's World Cup to underdog Ireland.

A pathologist initially ruled the cause of death was inconclusive but four days later determined Woolmer had been strangled.

Calls to the office of National Security Minister Peter Phillips were not returned.

CUBA: Cuban students stage mock trial of Castro archenemy for terrorism

HAVANA (AP) _ Cuban university students symbolically tried Luis Posada Carriles on Monday, accusing the anti-communist warrior of teaming up with Washington to commit decades of terrorist attacks.

A four-judge panel of University of Havana law students were scheduled to hear 32 witnesses over two days before issuing a sentence _ also symbolic _ against the 79-year-old former CIA operative. Posada, who was born in Cuba, has dedicated most of his life to toppling Fidel Castro's communist-run government.

The verdict was not in doubt. The trial was organized by the Communist Party's youth wing and other pro-government groups, and there was no sign of anybody named to offer a defense of Posada.

No new evidence was expected, though Cuba hopes the trial will keep public pressure on the United States to act against Posada, who was released last week from house arrest in the U.S. after a Texas judge dropped immigration charges against him.

Hundreds of college and high school students, many looking bored and squirming in their seats, filled a social club ringed by dilapidated tennis courts in the Cuban capital's Vedado district.

Witnesses included Cuban government investigators and students who studied the case here and in Venezuela.

GUANTANAMO: Ex-Guantanamo officer accused of passing detainee information in Valentine's card on trial

NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) _ A Navy lawyer accused of passing secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees sent a human rights lawyer their names and intelligence about them tucked into a Valentine's Day card, prosecutors said Monday.

Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz's actions endangered the lives of the detainees and American troops on the front line in the war on terror, prosecutor Lt. James Hoffman said during opening statements in Diaz's court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station.

But defense attorney Lt. Justin Henderson said that the information was not marked classified and that Diaz had no reason to think the document "could be used to injure the United States."

Diaz was near the end of a six-month stint at the U.S. military base in Cuba when he went to his office the night of Jan. 2, 2005, and used his classified computer to log into a classified military network and accessed a Web database with information about the detainees, Hoffman said.

Diaz printed information including the names of 550 detainees, their nationalities, the interrogators assigned to them and "intelligence sources and methods," Hoffman said.

PUERTO RICO: Man arrested after trying to board flight to San Juan without a ticket

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) _ A man was shocked with a stun gun and arrested Monday after repeatedly trying to board a flight to Puerto Rico without a ticket, authorities said.

The man, who has not been identified, allegedly attempted to go through a security checkpoint at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

He was escorted out of the terminal, but returned and again attempted to get through security without a ticket.

Deputies used a stun gun on the man after he refused to leave the area, and then charged at them, the sheriff's office said.

He will be charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, said BSO spokesman Hugh Graf.

DOMINICAN: Dominican trade up, economy grows in first quarter under U.S. trade agreement

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ The Dominican economy grew 9.1 percent and trade surged in the first quarter under a new U.S. trade agreement, the central bank said Monday.

Exports grew 65.4 percent, or US$208.8 million (euro154.1 million), and imports rose 19.7 percent, or US$492.2 million (euro363.3 million), in the first report since the Central American Free Trade Agreement was implemented here in March.

Growth for the first three months of the year was down slightly compared with double-digit quarters over the same period in 2005 and 2006 as the economy continued to recover from a major banking crisis in 2003.

Agriculture, manufacturing and construction fueled the growth, with increases reported in financial services, communications and other sectors.