Luis Posada Carriles denies any involvement in the bombing

The judge said Luis Posada Carriles - wanted by Caracas over a 1976 plane bombing which killed 73 people - faced the threat of torture in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the US of having a "double standard in its so-called war on terrorism".

US prosecutors said Mr Posada - who denies any involvement in the bombing - could be deported to another country.

They had previously agreed with Mr Posada's lawyers that he should not be sent back to Cuba.

Immigration officials said the former CIA operative would remain in custody for at least 90 days while the case was reviewed.

Twice acquitted

Mr Posada, 77, was arrested in Miami in May, and held for entering the US illegally.

Profile: Luis Posada Carriles

Venezuela asked for his extradition, accusing him of planning the bombing of a Cuban Airlines flight between Caracas and Havana.

A naturalised Venezuelan, Mr Posada was twice acquitted by courts there of plotting to bomb the plane.

He escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting a trial on appeal.

The Cuban government says Mr Posada Carriles was behind a series of bombings of hotels in Havana in 1997.