(Reuters) - Cuban and U.S. officials held talks on Friday aimed at restoring diplomatic relations, with Cuba pushing to be removed from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism but Washington saying the designation should not be linked to the negotiations on opening embassies.
The one-day talks stem from the decision announced by the two Cold War era foes last December to work to normalize relations, including opening embassies in each other's countries, and to exchange prisoners. Washington severed diplomatic relations with Cuba 54 years ago.
The delegations at Friday's talks, which followed a first round of negotiations in Havana last month, were headed by Roberta Jacobson, U.S. assistant secretary of state, and Josefina Vidal, chief of the Cuban foreign ministry's U.S. division.
The United States said the talks should focus on issues around the functioning of diplomats in future embassies, but Communist-run Cuba is pressing Washington to remove it from its terrorism list before the official restoration of diplomatic ties.
Havana says U.S. sanctions on banks that do business with designated countries impede it from conducting diplomatic affairs in the United States.
Re-establishing diplomatic relations should not be tied to the terrorism list, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, adding that the first was a technical process involving a set of "fairly normal" negotiations.
The terrorism sponsorship designation is a separate process and "not a negotiation," Kerry said, asked about the Cuba talks during a joint news conference with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
"It is an evaluation that is made under a very strict set of requirements, congressionally mandated, and that has to be pursued separately and it is being pursued separately," Kerry said. He added that "nothing will be done with respect to the list until the evaluation is completed."
The Obama administration is nearing completion of its review of Cuba's place on the list, which must be submitted to Congress before Cuba's name can be removed, a senior State Department official told reporters on Wednesday.
The official Cuban news agency AIN cited Vidal as saying on arrival in Washington that removing Cuba from the list was important to create a "suitable context" for the renewal of diplomatic relations.
On the practicalities of embassies, Washington is calling for U.S. diplomats to be able to move freely around Cuba and meet whom they please, including political dissidents. Currently, both countries do business through interests sections in each other's capitals
The United States is hoping to reach agreement on reopening embassies in time for an April 10-11 regional heads of state summit in Panama, where U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro could meet for the first time since announcing their joint agreement on Dec. 17.
Cuba was added to the terrorism sponsors list in 1982, when it aided Marxist insurgencies during the Cold War. But it is currently aiding a peace process with Colombia's left-wing FARC guerrillas.
During her visit to Washington, Vidal planned to meet with members of the U.S. business community interested in doing business with Cuba, as well as with members of Congress who have pushed for improved ties between the two countries, AIN said.
Following December's announcement, the Obama administration lifted a series of limitations on trade and travel last month and the U.S. president, a Democrat, called for an end to the decades-old economic embargo on Cuba. The embargo would have to be lifted by the Republican-controlled Congress, overcoming resistance from some members fiercely opposed to the rapprochement.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Havana and Warren Strobel in Washington; Writing by Frances Kerry; Editing by Dan Grebler)
