U.S. judge sets bail for anti-Castro Cuban exile

File photo shows an anti-Castro Cuban activist throwing a megaphone at a Castro supporter (L) during a protest to support Luis Posada Carriles in Little Havana, Miami January 19, 2007. A United States judge said on Friday Carriles should be freed on bail until his trial on immigration fraud charges, but he remained behind bars at the request of federal prosecutors.

EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A United States judge said on Friday Cuban exile and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles should be freed on bail until his trial on immigration fraud charges, but he remained behind bars at the request of federal prosecutors.

Judge Kathleen Cardone said in a written order 79-year-old Posada Carriles, despite "a controversial past" as an opponent of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, was not a flight risk because he is "old, infirm and has strong ties to the community."

She set bail at a total of $350,000 and said Posada Carriles must wear an electronic monitoring device and live under house arrest with his wife in Miami.

He was not immediately released because prosecutors asked that he be detained while they consider an appeal to a higher court. His attorney, Felipe Millan, told Reuters he hoped to get Posada Carriles out of jail by the end of next week.

Posada Carriles, who took part in the failed 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion against Castro, is wanted for trial in Cuba and Venezuela on charges he planned the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. He is also accused of tourist bombings in Havana in 1997.

Posada Carriles has been in U.S. custody in El Paso since May 2005 after entering the country illegally seeking asylum.

The U.S. government has fought his asylum request, but does not want to hand him over to Cuba or Venezuela on the grounds that he would not receive a fair trial and could be killed.

He has been a political problem for the Bush administration because his past activities are viewed as terrorism by his opponents, but he is a hero to many in the politically powerful Cuban exile community in the U.S.

The government tried to find another country to take Posada Carriles, but none would accept him. He was indicted in January on seven counts of immigration fraud and is scheduled to be tried on May 11 in El Paso.