US removes Cuba from terrorism list

The United States has removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The move eliminates a major obstacle toward restoring diplomatic ties.
The change allows Cuba to conduct banking in the United States, among other activities.
Obama announced a historic thaw with Cuba in December, but the US trade embargo against the country remains, and may only be ended by Congress.
“The United States has significant concerns and disagreements with a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions,” the State Department said in a statement. But those concerns, it said “fall outside the criteria relevant to the rescission of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designation”.
The department said that President Obama notified the US Congress of his intent to remove Cuba from the list on 14 April.
Lawmakers had 45 days to take issue with his decision – a period that lapsed on Friday, reports the BBC.
The US government had maintained that Cuba has sheltered members of the Basque separatist group ETA and the Farc guerrilla group in Colombia, according to a government report.