"Cuba is an island of resistance to the drug threat," "They certainly are not a terrorist threat and I do not believe they are harboring terrorist organizations" -- Genl. Barry McCaffrey, former US Drug Czar

Former U.S. drug tsar meets Castro in Cuba By Marc Frank

HAVANA, March 3 (Reuters) - The former head of the U.S. war on drugs, General Barry McCaffrey, on Sunday praised Fidel Castro's efforts against the world-wide scourge and said the country represented no threat to the United States.

"Cuba is an island of resistance to the drug threat," McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 1996 through 2000, said after a meeting with President Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro that lasted into the early hours of Sunday morning.

"They are very keen on cooperating in the fight against drugs ... They are sincere," he said during a Havana press conference.

"I feel safer walking Cuban streets than anywhere else in Latin America and the Caribbean," said the retired general, who arrived in Cuba on Friday.

Defense Minister Raul Castro, No. 2 in the political hierarchy, participated during the first eight hours of the 12- hour meeting, along with other Cuban officials and members of a delegation from the Washington-based Center for Defense Intelligence. The think-tank sponsored McCaffrey's trip.

McCaffrey was head of the U.S. Southern Command, coordinating national security operations in Latin America, before being named by President Bill Clinton to lead the nation's drug fighting effort in 1996.

"I am convinced these people do not intend to be, and represent no national security threat to us," said the general, who teaches national security studies at the U.S. Military Academy.

On the international war on terrorism, McCaffrey said Cuba "would be supportive of any attempt to solve the problem through peaceful means," citing cooperation over the detention of al Qaeda and Taliban captives at the Guantanamo U.S. naval base on the northeast tip of the Caribbean island.

But from his discussion with the Castro brothers, McCaffrey said it was clear Cuba would not, for example, welcome any U.S.-led military operation against Iraq.

"They certainly are not a terrorist threat and I do not believe they are harboring terrorist organizations," he said. Cuba is one of eight countries on Washington's official list of nations it says sponsor terrorism.

McCaffrey also expressed some support for Cuban charges it has been the target of Miami-based exile attacks over the years, adding, "the United States should make sure it does not happen any more."

The general, who supports improving relations with the Cuba, said he had no illusions about the country.

"I asked President Castro to release 250 political prisoners," he said, noting the 75-year-old Cuban leader, in power since 1959, gave no response.

"There is no question this is not a democratic system and the economic system does not work," McCaffrey said, although he insisted on the need for more dialogue between the two country's which have been bitter enemies for 43 years.

12:31 03-03-02