(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) President Barack Obama submitted a report to Congress on Tuesday to remove Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, a White House statement revealed.
This move comes in light of a State Department review in which Secretary of State John Kerry concluded that the country met conditions to rescind its designation.
"We will 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," said White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest in the statement.
In his notification to Congress, Obama addressed that, "the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period," and "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future." Kerry echoed Obama's decision in a separate statement and said, "While the United States has had, and continues to have, significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba's policies and actions, these concerns and disagreements fall outside of the criteria for designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism." Congress now has 45 days to consider Cuba's removal from the list before it becomes effective, but would require voting on separate legislation.
The four other countries that remain on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list are Syria, Iran, North Korea and Sudan.
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