Chavez Says He Will Jail U.S. Spies

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Friday to arrest American officials if they are caught gathering intelligence about the Venezuela's military.

Chavez's warning came hours after his vice president, Jose Vicente Rangel, claimed that officials at the U.S. Embassy were involved in a spying case involving the arrest of several Venezuelan military officers, allegedly for passing sensitive information to the Pentagon.

"We've just discovered a case, one more espionage case," Chavez said, for the first time speaking about the accusations.

"I warn the U.S. government: the next time we detect a soldier or civilian official - but above all American soldiers - trying to obtain information about our armed forces, we're going to put them in prison.".......

By IAN JAMES , 01.27.2006, 09:37 PM Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.