Skor
2015-04-15 04:01:10 UTC
(Reuters) - The United States decided to drop Cuba from its list
of state sponsors of terrorism on Tuesday partly because of
Cuban assurances that it would not support terrorism in the
future, senior U.S. officials said.
"The assurances that they (provided) were fairly wide-ranging
and fairly high-level," said one senior U.S. official who
briefed reporters, adding that the Cubans had pledged "that they
will no longer support acts of terrorism in the future."
The White House on Tuesday said President Barack Obama had
decided to remove Cuba from the list, which follows the Dec. 17
U.S. and Cuban joint move to pursue normalizing relations after
more than half a century of enmity.
The two countries have made headway toward formally agreeing to
open embassies but have not yet reached an agreement, a second
senior U.S. official told reporters.
For the United States, some of the issues involved include the
ability for U.S. diplomats to travel freely around the island,
upgrading its obsolete equipment and facilities in Havana and
increasing its staffing levels.
"We're still not quite there yet," said the second senior
official. "I'm optimistic."
The U.S. Congress has 45 days to consider Obama's decision to
drop Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list before it
takes effect. It was not immediately clear what would be the
practical implications of being removed from the list.
In theory, once dropped Cuba would no longer be subject to
certain sanctions including a ban on U.S. arms exports, controls
on "dual-use" items with military and civilian applications, the
prohibition of U.S. economic aid and automatic U.S. opposition
to international financial institutions making loans to Cuba.
However, U.S. officials said that a series of other U.S.
economic sanctions continued to apply.
"Economic sanctions under (the Treasury Department's Office of
Foreign Asset Control) Cuban asset control regulations will
remain in effect and most transactions with Cuba and with Cuban
nationals and with the Cuban government will remain prohibited
absent authorization from Treasury," said a third U.S. official.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/15/us-cuba-usa-obama-
assurances-idUSKBN0N529020150415
of state sponsors of terrorism on Tuesday partly because of
Cuban assurances that it would not support terrorism in the
future, senior U.S. officials said.
"The assurances that they (provided) were fairly wide-ranging
and fairly high-level," said one senior U.S. official who
briefed reporters, adding that the Cubans had pledged "that they
will no longer support acts of terrorism in the future."
The White House on Tuesday said President Barack Obama had
decided to remove Cuba from the list, which follows the Dec. 17
U.S. and Cuban joint move to pursue normalizing relations after
more than half a century of enmity.
The two countries have made headway toward formally agreeing to
open embassies but have not yet reached an agreement, a second
senior U.S. official told reporters.
For the United States, some of the issues involved include the
ability for U.S. diplomats to travel freely around the island,
upgrading its obsolete equipment and facilities in Havana and
increasing its staffing levels.
"We're still not quite there yet," said the second senior
official. "I'm optimistic."
The U.S. Congress has 45 days to consider Obama's decision to
drop Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list before it
takes effect. It was not immediately clear what would be the
practical implications of being removed from the list.
In theory, once dropped Cuba would no longer be subject to
certain sanctions including a ban on U.S. arms exports, controls
on "dual-use" items with military and civilian applications, the
prohibition of U.S. economic aid and automatic U.S. opposition
to international financial institutions making loans to Cuba.
However, U.S. officials said that a series of other U.S.
economic sanctions continued to apply.
"Economic sanctions under (the Treasury Department's Office of
Foreign Asset Control) Cuban asset control regulations will
remain in effect and most transactions with Cuba and with Cuban
nationals and with the Cuban government will remain prohibited
absent authorization from Treasury," said a third U.S. official.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/15/us-cuba-usa-obama-
assurances-idUSKBN0N529020150415