CUBA : U.N. Rules Downing of Planes Unlawful

The U.N. Security Council adopted a cautiously worded resolution stating that Cuba’s downing of two unarmed U.S. civilian planes Feb. 24 was unlawful and violated the principle that weapons should not be used against civil aircraft in flight. The resolution, sponsored by the United States, stopped short of condemning Cuban President Fidel Castro’s government. Four people aboard the two Cessnas, operated by a Miami-based Cuban exile group, were killed when the Cuban air force fired on them. The Castro government charged that they had deliberately violated Cuban airspace, but the U.S. contends that they were in international airspace.