A British official, the most senior to travel to communist Cuba since a lengthy freeze over EU support for dissidents, used a visit here on Monday to call on President Fidel Castro to free political prisoners serving lengthy prison terms. "I will be talking directly to the Cuban government about the importance of the release of political prisoners and the need for international organizations such as the IRC (Red Cross) to have access to prisons," Bill Rammell said at Cuba's Foreign Ministry on Monday morning. Rammell was expected to meet with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on Monday afternoon. Rammell, the British minister responsible for Latin America, is the highest ranking official from a European Union state to visit Cuba since its communist government in January lifted a 19-month diplomatic freeze over European support for Cuban dissidents.
