Cuba ready to free more 'political prisoners'

Cuba said it would free 52 of 75 detainees sentenced in 2003 to prison terms of up to 28 years. The deal was reached after talks with the Roman Catholic Church and Spain.

"It was very clear from the discussions that the government's wish is to free all the people" on condition they had not been accused of murder, parliament chief Ricardo Alarcon said on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva.

Eleven freed prisoners have already emigrated to Spain with their families and another nine were expected to arrive in Madrid this week as part of Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.

Those who agreed to go into exile in Spain were the first to be freed.

Asked about the destinations of the others, Alarcon signalled they could stay in Cuba if they wanted to.

"The agreement says that they could travel abroad ... but in Cuba there are people who have been freed from prison several years ago and who stayed in their homes. As in this case," he said.

According to figures from Cuban dissidents, there would still be 115 political prisoners in Cuba after the release of the 52 announced for freedom.

The deal came after dissident hunger striker Guillermo Farinas nearly starved to death on a 135-day hunger strike.

Relatives of some of the others to be freed have said they could refuse emigration or ask to be sent to the United States instead of Spain.

Church officials have stressed that emigrating from Cuba was an offer, not a condition for the release of the prisoners with other countries offering to take the prisoners including Chile, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

If Havana lets all 52 dissidents go it will be the largest release of political prisoners in Cuba since 1998 when 300 dissidents were spared jail time following a visit by then-pope John Paul II.