Salvadoran leader asks Castro for clemency for convicted bombers

CNN April 17, 1999 Salvadoran leader asks Castro for clemency for convicted bombers

                  SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Cuban leader Fidel
                  Castro has promised to consider sparing the lives of two Salvadorans
                  sentenced to death for terrorism in Cuba, El Salvador's president said
                  Saturday.

President Armando Calderon Sol said he asked Castro for clemency on
behalf of the men's families and "in the name of the Salvadoran people."

"We have asked for a guarantee of due process," he said.

                  Calderon Sol noted that the men's cases were now before Cuba's Supreme
                  Tribunal and later could be referred to the Council of State, over which
                  Castro presides.

                  Castro said he would "study the case with much responsibility and
                  objectivity to give the final sentence, if it reaches the Council of State,"
                  Calderon Sol said.

                  Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena and Ernesto Cruz Leon were convicted in
                  March of terrorism charges and sentenced to death. Rodriguez Llerena was
                  convicted of planting a bomb in a hotel and attempting to import explosives.
                  Cruz Leon was found guilty of planting bombs that killed one tourist and
                  wounded 11 others.

                  The leaders met during Saturday's summit of the Association of Caribbean
                  States in Santo Domingo. Castro left at the start of a news conference after
                  the summit ended and could not be asked to comment.