A Cuban exile wanted by two countries as a terrorism suspect will claim that he worked for the CIA in a petition for asylum in the United States.

Associated Press

A Cuban militant accused of plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro and blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976 when he lived in Venezuela will file a petition for political asylum by mail today in Miami, his attorney said.

Luis Posada Carriles, 77, will seek asylum based, in part, on his claim that he worked ''directly and indirectly'' for the CIA for years, attorney Eduardo Soto said.

The CIA would not discuss whether Posada ever worked for the agency, saying the CIA does not usually comment on such matters.

Foreigners who seek asylum generally get to stay in the United States while their cases are decided and could remain permanently if they can prove persecution or that they fear for their lives.

Soto plans to hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to address questions about Posada's case. Soto told The Herald that Posada would not be at the news conference.

Soto declined to say precisely where Posada is located, or exactly when and where he entered the United States. But Posada has a number of financial backers and other supporters in the Cuban-American community.

Posada is a longtime foe of Castro who was imprisoned in Panama -- and then pardoned -- for his role in an alleged plot to kill Castro while the Cuban president attended a summit in Panama in 2000. He is a veteran of the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and was linked to a series of 1997 bombings of prominent Cuban tourist spots.

Although the United States would be unlikely to hand Posada over to Cuba, Venezuela is another matter because it has an extradition treaty. Posada is wanted for escaping from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting the outcome of a prosecutor's appeal of his acquittal in the airline bombing case.

Soto said Posada will argue that he unjustly spent years in the Venezuelan prison even though he was acquitted twice in the bombing, which killed 73 people.