Bolivia says links to US bomb suspect 'clarified'

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Apr 2 (Reuters) Bolivian President Evo Morales no longer suspects U S involvement in two hotel bombings that killed two people last month, the U S ambassador said.

A U S citizen and his Uruguayan girlfriend were arrested after the blasts on March 21 and 22, spurring Bolivia's leftist leader to say the attacks seemed politically motivated and to question the U S commitment to fighting terrorism.

''Everything has been clarified,'' Morales said late yesterday after dining with U.S. Ambassador David Greenlee. ''The ambassador gave us first-hand information about the U S citizen who is the main suspect in the two explosions in La Paz. We value this participation.'' The U S citizen jailed in Bolivia, identified as Lestat Claudius de Orleans y Montevideo of California, ''is not a messenger of the U S government,'' Greenlee said.

''Now the president has another perspective on what happened ...

and he is not accusing my country of having participated in the event,'' Greenlee said.

Bolivian police arrested the American and his girlfriend, Alda Ribeiro Acosta of Uruguay, after the bombings but said the motive for the attacks was unclear.

Reuters PR DB2214