OliverStone has confirmed that his production company, Ixtlan Corp, has paid the USTreasury department $6,300 in fines over his Cuba documentary Looking ForFidel in order "to end the affair".

However,he stressed, "we maintain our innocence."

Speakingat the Dubai International Film Festival, where he is accepting a career award,60-year-old Stone said the fine was for "contributing to the Cuban economy orwhatever."

Stone madetwo documentaries in Cuba between 2002 and 2003; the first, Comandante,which featured extensive interviews an interview with the country's now-ailingleader Fidel Castro, was pulled from the HBO network in the US prior tobroadcast after noisy anti-Castro protests.

"HBO askedme to go back and finish the film, but I already considered it to be finished,"said the director.

"However Idid go back and made a more personal film about human rights issues calledLooking For Fidel; this is the one that has been shown in the US."

Comandantehas not been shown commercially in America, although it did premiere atSundance.

Accordingto documents from the US Treasury department, the payment would settle allegedviolations of the US trade embargo on the island that occurred between February2002 and May 2003.

Thedocuments said the Santa Monica-based company and four unidentified individualswould pay the fine.

"Americansneed to see all sides of the story," said Stone. "One of the great thingsmovies can do is let the guy talk, look at the island - it's totallydifferent to the rest of the Caribbean - but the Cuba story is not beingtold to the Americans in that way."

Stoneinterviewed Castro for more than 30 hours in February 2002. Both movies wereco-produced by Spain's MediaPro, Pentagrama Films and Morena Films.