Venezuela raids Posada friend's home

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 13 (UPI) -- Venezuelan intelligence officers raided the home of a friend of anti-Cuba militant Luis Posada Carriles, El Universal reported Friday.

Joaquin Chaffardet said officers looking for evidence on Posada's past activities searched his house for more than five hours this week.

Posada, who escaped from prison in Venezuela in 1985, is charged in Venezuela with masterminding the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in 1976, killing 73 people. He has denied any involvement in the bombing.

The Cuban militant contends he entered the United States across the Mexican border in 2005, though Cuban officials assert he was smuggled into the country with the help of anti-Castro activists.

Posada is being held in Texas, where a judge said this month he should be freed pending an immigration hearing.

Venezuela and Cuba are demanding his extradition to Venezuela. The United States has said it would not turn Posada over to Venezuelan authorities.