-DATE-
19880617
-YEAR-
1988
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
REMARKS
-AUTHOR-
F.CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CUBAN EMBASSY DENIES REPORT ON COMMANDO ACTION
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
PANAMA CITY ACAN
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19880620
-TEXT-
Cuban Embassy Denies Report on Commando Action

PA1706225188 Panama City ACAN in Spanish 2217 GMT 17 Jun 88

[Excerpt] Panama City, 17 Jun (ACAN-EFE)--Today the Cuban Embassy in Panama
described as a "gross lie" a report that some 50 members of a Cuban special
commando group attacked a U.S. base near Panama City on 12 April.

The Cuban Embassy was responding to a report published today by THE
WASHINGTON POST, which reported in effect that Marines guarding the fuel
depots at Howard Air Force Base had repelled some 50 Cubans belonging to
the special commando groups known by the Soviet name as "Spetsnaz."

According to columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, who cited espionage
reports as their sources, this operation was supervised by the first
secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Panama.  According to THE WASHINGTON POST
report, one attacker was killed and eight others were injured in the course
of the operation.

It is just "one more gross lie," Cuban Embassy sources told ACAN-EFE.  The
sources commented that "those columnists have taken a long time to come up
with this fabrication." [passage omitted]
-END-