(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Cuban officials investigating US complaints of attacks that sickened American diplomats in Havana said talk of acoustic strikes was 'science fiction. The officials accused Washington of 'slander while it refused to co-operate fully with Cuba's enquiry.
US President Donald Trump said last week he believed Havana was responsible for 24 diplomats being harmed.
Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats and recalled more than half the US diplomatic personnel from Havana earlier in October.
While Cuba denounced the expulsions as 'unjustified and accused the US of insufficient co-operation, three interior ministry officials and a doctor heading the inquiry provided more details in an interview in Havana.
Cuba had deployed about 2,000 security officials and experts, from criminologists to audiologists and mathematicians, to investigate the incidents after it became aware of them in February, the investigators said.
The probe has not ended but so far has failed to uncover any evidence to corroborate allegations of attacks that the US says have caused hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue and cognitive issues for diplomatic personnel who were based on the Communist-run island.
'This is slander by the US, said Coronel Ramiro Ramirez, responsible for the security of diplomats in Cuba.
Asked to respond to the Cuban officials' assertions, state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the US had reminded Cuba of its obligation to ensure the safety of US diplomatic personnel and was continuing its investigation of the 'attacks.
Washington officials have raised the possibility that sonic weapons were used to harm the diplomats, according to US media reports.
However, Cuban investigators denied such weapons could even have been used by third parties without affecting the health of others or attracting attention.
'It's impossible. We are talking about science fiction, said lieutenant colonel Jose Alazo, an expert in the criminal investigation unit of the interior ministry. 'From a technical point of view, that argument is unsustainable.
The investigators said the US had supplied 14 recordings of the sound it says the victims heard during the attacks and recorded, for example, on cellphones.
These, however, did not contain anything that could damage human health, they concluded.
The noises included the usual suburban sounds such as traffic, footsteps and voices.
They were also characterised by a deviation peak of 7 kiloHertz (kHz) in the frequency band of 3 kHz, similar to the song of a cricket.
An audible sound would need to be very loud — above 80 decibels or akin to a plane's engine — to have a health impact, they said.
Yet only the victims heard the noise, not their families living in the same houses, or their neighbours.
'We interviewed more than 300 people in the neighbourhood, we also evaluated more than 30 medically, and no one heard these things, Alazo said.
Even if the US diplomats' reports of loud sounds were misleading and the source of the attacks was infra- or ultrasonic and therefore inaudible to human ears, it would be hard to explain how it could go undetected, the Cuban investigators said.
'You would need a source that could be seen from a satellite, it would be enormous, said Dr Manuel Villar, an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Finally, only two or three of the alleged victims had hearing problems, according to the US information provided, whereas any kind of sonic attack would cause them in everyone, Villar said.
The US has not formally accused Cuba of carrying out attacks, but Trump's comments further damaged relations between the old Cold War foes, which have rapidly deteriorated since he took office.
Canada has said several Canadians had reported similar symptoms to the US diplomats but it has not taken any action against Cuba and has said Havana had been very co-operative with the investigation.
'There is an anti-Cuban mafia in Miami and we are victims of their dirty work that involve certain people very close to the governing circles of the US, Ramirez said.
Anti-Castro Cuban-Americans such as Republican senator Marco Rubio of Florida have guided Trump's policy on Cuba, including a partial rollback of the historic detente forged by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. Washington insists its drawdown at its embassy was motivated by concern for the health of its diplomats.
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