Castro

PARIS (CNN) -- A French lawyer launched legal action Wednesday against Cuban President Fidel Castro, accusing him of crimes against humanity and international drug smuggling, judicial sources said.

"French jurisdiction has the competence to investigate these complaints and deliver an arrest warrant for Fidel Castro," lawyer Serge Lewisch said. Lewisch filed complaints on behalf of the daughter of an executed Cuban army official and two men who charge that they were tortured in Cuban jails.

The French action was inspired by an extradition suit filed by Spain against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and must be screened by a judge before a probe can be opened.

The judicial officials said it was unlikely the charges of crimes against humanity would succeed since Castro would enjoy immunity as a head of state. But the drug-trafficking charges could stand, they said, since French law respects the immunity of a nation's leaders only in cases directly linked to the sovereignty of the state in question.

De la Guardia was executed along with three other officials after they allegedly confessed to smuggling drugs into the United States. Lewisch charged Wednesday that the Castro government itself had organized the drug trade to circumvent the U.S. trade embargo and fund its troops fighting U.S.-backed forces in Angola.

The complaints in France coincide with a Spanish prosecutor's attempt to get former Chilean dictator Pinochet extradited from Britain to stand trial for human rights abuses during his 1973-1990 dictatorship.

They also come at a time when the United States is taking steps to improve relations with Cuba. On Tuesday, the Clinton administration announced a series of measures that would facilitate travel and mail service between the two countries while maintaining the strict U.S. economic embargo.

Reuters contributed to this report.