Barack Obama Removed Cuba from list of State Sponsors of Terrorism
KABUL: (Middle East Press) The U.S president, Barack Obama will remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House said on Tuesday, marking the president’s biggest move yet towards the resumption of diplomatic ties with Havana.
“The government of Cuba acknowledges the fair decision of the president to take Cuba off a list on which it should never have been included,” said a statement signed by Cuba’s top official for relations with Washington.
The announcement came days after a historic meeting between Obama and Cuban president Raúl Castro on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Panama, in the first formal talks between the two countries’ leaders in more than 50 years.
“After a careful review of Cuba’s record, which was informed by the Intelligence Community, as well as assurances provided by the Cuban government, the secretary of state concluded that Cuba met the conditions for rescinding its designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism,” said the statement.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the US would continue to have differences with the Cuban government, “but our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
Cuba’s removal from the list will also alleviate some of the economic sanctions on the island, thus opening up avenues to access US banking facilities that Cuban officials have said are necessary to reopen an embassy in Washington.
