Cuba returns to the US 'wrongly shipped' Hellfire missile

Cuba returned to the United States an inert
Hellfire missile that had been wrongly shipped to
Havana in June 2014.
The missile, which did not contain explosives, had
been shipped to Spain for a Nato training exercise,
the Wall Street Journal said.
It was then taken to Germany and eventually to
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for onward delivery
to Florida.
It was instead loaded on to an Air France flight to
Havana.
The incident could have led to a serious loss of
military technology, officials told the Wall Street
Journal.
The whole affair has been embarrassing for the
Americans, who have had to ask the Cubans if they
could have their highly sensitive missile back, says
the BBC's Will Grant in Havana.
The missile arrived on a flight from Paris "by mistake
or mishandling in the country of origin," said a Cuban
Foreign Ministry statement.
"Cuba acted with seriousness and transparency and
co-operated to find a satisfactory solution to this
issue," it added.
The AGM 114 Hellfire is a laser-guided missile that
can be deployed from an attack helicopter or an
unmanned drone.
US officials were worried that Cuba could share the
advanced technology inside the missile with
countries such as North Korea, China or Russia,
sources close to the investigation told the Wall Street
Journal.
The US and Cuba, old Cold War enemies, restored
diplomatic relations in July last year after more than
50 years.
The two countries have been working to rebuild their
economic and trade ties.
An announcement is expected on Tuesday about the
reinstatement of scores of commercial flights
between US cities and Havana.
Coined from bbc news