Cuba reaffirms call to be taken off 'terror' list

Havana, Feb 28: Cuba reaffirmed its call to be taken off the United States' list of "state sponsors of terrorism", to pave the way for progress on normalising bilateral ties.

During the second round of Cuba-US talks held in Washington, "the Cuban representatives reiterated the importance of solving a series of issues... in particular, Cuba's removal from the list of 'state sponsors of international terrorism, before resuming diplomatic relations and opening embassies in both capitals," Xinhua reported, citing a press release issued by the the Cuban delegation on Friday.

The second key issue for Cuba is "the provision of financial services to the Cuban interests section in Washington which, for more than one year, has been unable to find a bank willing to handle its financial transactions due to the blockade laws and Cuba's designation as a country that sponsors international terrorism," the delegation said.

Cuba also stressed "the need to ensure compliance with the principles of International Law and the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, which should be the basis of our future diplomatic relations and the work of our respective embassies," the delegation added.

The two sides also worked out the details of upcoming bilateral technical meetings over the next few weeks on issues such as human trafficking, civil aviation, telecommunications, human rights, protected marine areas, prevention of migration fraud, said the Cuban delegation, which was headed by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director General of US affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Roberta S Jacobson, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, led the US delegation.

Cuba and the US announced in December that they agreed to restore diplomatic ties after more than half a century.

IANS