Adams to depart for Cuba visit on Sunday

Sinn Féin leader Mr Gerry Adams is set to travel to Cuba on Sunday for a meeting with President Mr Fidel Castro.

Sinn Féin leader Mr Gerry Adams is set to travel to Cuba on Sunday for a meeting with President Mr Fidel Castro.

Mr Adams will be accompanied by North Belfast Assemblyman Mr Gerry Kelly on the visit where he will unveil a plaque in memory of the 1981 IRA hunger strikers.

They will also be joined by Sinn Féin’s international department director, Ms Joan O'Connor, and will pay visits to the Juan Marquez Paediatric Hospital and the Latin American School of Medical Sciences. Meetings are also scheduled with Cuban government officials.

The visit follows Mr Adams's trip to South Africa in October when he unveiled a monument on Robben Island.

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A spokesman for Mr Adams said: "We have identified as part of our strategy the need to develop our international outreach. We have worked to do that in the USA, South Africa and the Third World as well as Australia and other nations."

He said: "It is part of the broad strategy to secure support for the peace process in Northern Ireland and in helping to move that process along"

<.p> The group will depart for Cuba on Sunday and return the following Thursday.