U.S. returns alleged hijackers back to Cuba (12 of them)

KEY WEST - In an action likely to spark controversy in South Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard today quietly repatriated 12 Cubans who allegedly hijacked a boat from the island last Tuesday.

The highly debated decision to send the group back was made after diplomats received a pledge from Cuban government officials that they would not execute the hijackers as they did three others returned to Cuba after committing a similar crime in April.

''We repatriated them around 10 this morning,'' said Danielle DeMarino, a spokewoman for Coast Guard in Miami.

Representatives from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. D.C.. promised late last week that those involved in the hijacking -- which Havana dubbed an ''armed robbery and kidnapping'' -- would not be executed and would not face more than 10 years in prison, a U.S. official familiar with the situation said.

more