Hijack brings out rare US-Cuban friendship

The top US Diplomat in Cuba went to the control tower at Havana airport to warn a man who subsequently hijacked a Cuban airliner to Florida he would face US prosecution, the State Department said on Tuesday.

In a rare public instance of US-Cuban cooperation, James Cason, a US diplomat often criticised by Cuba, delivered the warning by radio during the night after Havana asked Washington to tell the man he faced penalties if he flew to the US. After sitting on the tarmac in Havana overnight, the plane landed safely in Key West, Florida, on Tuesday with 33 people aboard. The suspected hijacker, who had threatened to set off a hand grenade if he was not flown to the US, was taken into custody.

‘‘The Cuban authorities indicated that the hijacker believed that he would be welcomed in the US if he arrived here and asked for a US representative to explain to the hijacker that this was not the case,’’ State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said. The State Department also took Cuban authorities to task for the fact the hijacking was the second in Cuba in two weeks, saying that indicated an airport security problem.