Associated Press

                 WASHINGTON - The United States has rejected a Cuban offer to compensate
                 Americans whose properties were nationalized 40 years ago if the U.S.
                 embargo is lifted and Washington makes other concessions, an official said
                 Thursday.

                 Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque reaffirmed the long-standing
                 Cuban proposal during a news conference at the United Nations earlier this
                 week.

                 Cuba has never rejected the U.S. compensation claims but has linked
                 repayment to a lifting of the embargo and to U.S. payment of $181 billion to
                 Cuba, a figure it says is based on the damage the embargo has done to the
                 island's economy over the years. In 1999, a Cuban court found the United
                 States liable for that amount.

                 The United States maintains that the principle of compensation for
                 expropriated properties is embedded in international law.

                 It rejects any linkage between the compensation issue and the embargo. The
                 U.S. government has certified 5,911 property claims by U.S. citizens against
                 the Cuban government. It does not accept Cuba's demand for damages resulting
                 from the embargo.

                 Copyright 2001 Associated Press