Accused 1968 Cuba hijacker pleads not guilty in N.Y.

The exhaust from the engines of a commercial aircraft create the illusion of a solar flare as it flies in front of the sun in Wilmington, Delaware, May 18, 2007.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fugitive who avoided prosecution for more than four decades after hijacking a 1968 Pan American flight to Cuba pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges including kidnapping and aircraft piracy.

Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, appeared in Manhattan federal court on charges stemming from his involvement in the hijacking of the flight that left John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Puerto Rico on November 24, 1968.

Soltren said "not guilty," through a Spanish translator when asked by a federal magistrate judge how he pleaded to the 1968 indictment.

He will be held in jail pending a bail application and his lawyer, James Neuman, told the judge Soltren did not need medical attention.

Soltren, a U.S. citizen who lived in Cuba for 41 years, surrendered to authorities at JFK airport on Sunday, knowing he would be arrested, according to authorities.

Neuman told reporters outside the courtroom he could not yet explain why Soltren had voluntarily come back to the United States.

"There is some family in the area," the lawyer said. Another court hearing was set for Wednesday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said on Monday the Cuban government had authorized Soltren's departure. An FBI spokesman told The New York Times Soltren wanted to return to see his wife and other family members who live in either Puerto Rico or Florida.

Soltren faces charges of kidnapping, aircraft piracy, interference with flight crew members and conspiracy to commit air piracy and kidnapping. Although the charges could carry a sentence of life in prison, a deal with prosecutors could result in a lesser sentence.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, dozens of U.S. planes were hijacked to Cuba as the Cold War with Cuban leader Fidel Castro intensified. Some hijacked the planes to make political statements, while others sought asylum in Cuba or ransom payments from the U.S. government.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney; editing by Michelle Nichols and Mohammad Zargham)