[Cincinatus' Wife]

Cuba Calls U.S. Expulsions 'Aggressive' - Spy Recruitment, Association With Criminals, Monitoring..***In Washington, a senior Bush administration official said those ordered home from the Cuban mission in Washington engaged in three kinds of improper activities: monitoring and surveillance, association with known criminals and the attempted recruitment of spies. ***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

FBI memo behind Cubans' expulsion, U.S. officials say***WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's decision this week to expel 14 Cuban diplomats had its genesis in an FBI memorandum sent to the State Department last October citing concern about Cuban intelligence activities, officials asserted Thursday.

U.S. officials vigorously defended the mass expulsion, even as questions arose about its timing, the lack of public disclosure of evidence to support charges of espionage and whether genuine national security concerns led to the action -- and not political motivations.

Administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, laid out the chronology of what they said was ongoing concern about Cuban intelligence activities.***