By George Gedda. .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, 28 (AP) - Expelled Cuban diplomat Jose Imperatori may be asked to return to the United States to testify in the case of a U.S. immigration officer arrested this month on charges he spied for Cuba, the State Department said Monday.
Imperatori, a consular officer at the Cuban mission in Washington, was deported Saturday night after he ignored a State Department demand that he leave voluntarily.
He was accused of engaging in activities ``inconsistent with his diplomatic status'' by maintaining s with Miami-based Immigration and Naturalization Service official Mariano Faget, a Cuban-born 34-year INS veteran.
Before his forcible departure, Imperatori vowed to maintain a hunger strike until he was cleared of the accusations against him.
State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said it was unseemly for Imperatori to suggest that he could be exonerated quickly.
``Just as peace is not made in seven days in the Middle East or in Northern Ireland or in Ethiopia and Eritrea, a prosecutorial case is not made, necessarily, in seven days,'' he said.
``If and when the time comes that law enforcement officials seek his presence in court or in other law-enforcement proceedings, and he chooses to come, that will be fine.''
On Feb. 19, Imperatori was asked to leave the United States and was given seven days to make departure arrangements. When Cuba objected to the expulsion order, the State Department branded him PNG - persona non grata.
``PNG does not mean `please now go.' It means `persona non grata.' It means go. And he either went voluntarily or, as you saw, he went involuntarily,'' Rubin said.
Imperatori was flown to Montreal aboard a U.S. government plane. He was expected to leave Sunday but has remained at the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa.
A Cuban government statement said Imperatori is seeking permission to stay in Canada ``for the time needed to find an honorable solution to the problem.''
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy said he expected Imperatori to leave Canada Monday night.
In Havana on Sunday, scores of teen-agers shouting ``Down with the lie'' held a pro-government rally outside Imperatori's family's home.
Cuba insists that Imperatori's relationship with Faget was unobjectionable. It also maintains that the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington, where Imperatori served, never has been used for intelligence activities.
AP-NY-02-28-00 1625EST
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