Cuba Set To Free Another Five Dissidents

Could the releases be part of a post-Castro thaw or a cynical ploy ahead of an EU meeting on the bloc's Cuba policy?

Cuba is set to free and send to Spain another five political prisoners.

The Catholic Church in Havana said the five were not included in the list of 52 dissidents the government had already agreed to release under a deal earlier this year.

The announcement came hours after the European Parliament on October 21 awarded its prestigious Sakharov human rights prize to Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas.

Farinas's long hunger strike earlier this year helped pressure Cuba to release political prisoners.

At a meeting on October 25, EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the bloc's policy toward Cuba.

compiled from agency reports