A high-ranking US diplomat will travel to Havana for talks on restoring diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba later this month, the State Department said, dpa reported. Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, will attend previously scheduled migration talks between the countries on January 21-22 and will begin to handle the groundwork of a restoration of diplomatic relations announced by President Barack Obama last month, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Psaki also confirmed that the Cuban government on Wednesday released some political prisoners, but would not confirm who had been released. She said the prisoners were not the first to be released since the deal was announced. A Cuban human rights group had said they were the first to be released, but Psaki said it was not the first group of prisoners to have now been freed. -- SPA 22:56 LOCAL TIME 19:56 GMT تغريد
