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DATE=2/26/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=U-S / CUBA DIPLOMAT (S) NUMBER=2-259603 BYLINE=KYLE KING DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: /// EDS: Should be updated after U-S authorities act or do not act on deadline /// INTRO: A U-S based Cuban diplomat at the center of spying allegations has refused to leave the United States and says he has gone on a hunger strike to prove his innocence. From Washington, V-O-A's Kyle King reports. TEXT: Cuban diplomat Jose Imperatori says he has been wrongly accused of doing intelligence work in the United States. Speaking to reporters before a mid-afternoon deadline for him to leave the country (1:30 PM EST), the diplomat said he had resigned his post as a consular affairs officer, and voluntarily given up his diplomatic immunity. The Clinton administration has accused the diplomat of involvement with a senior U-S customs official who was arrested earlier this month on charges of spying for Cuba. U-S officials say it is unprecedented for a diplomat to refuse an expulsion order. They say the Cuban diplomat will be subject to arrest if he does not leave, something he says he will not do. (signed) NEB/KBK/JP 26-Feb-2000 12:33 PM EDT (26-Feb-2000 1733 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .