HAVANA — A US citizen detained in Cuba for the past month was denounced by a senior official here Wednesday as a secret intelligence agent dispatched by Washington to aid in the downfall of the communist regime.

Ricardo Alarcon, one of Cuba's top figures and speaker of the National Assembly, gave the most detailed and damning assessment yet of the case of the American detained here, in a major blow to any hopes for closer bilateral ties.

The US citizen, who remains unidentified, was arrested December 5, reportedly while distributing cell phones, laptops and other communications equipment.

"This was a gentleman hired by a company that hires people to work for US intelligence; we have already done an investigation and I can assure you that he is doing much better -- and I mean much, much better -- than the victims of US contractors around the world," Alarcon told reporters.

"As (President) Raul (Castro) has said, that was no contractor," Alarcon added, saying that the contractor belonged to the ranks of hired "agents, torturers and spies" who are part of an American policy of "privatizing war."

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