Cuba holds Britons over sex spy probe

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Cuba has been holding seven British nationals for more than two weeks following reports that they are private detectives investigating an alleged case of marital infidelity, according to the Foreign Office.

Officials in London said on Wednesday that its charge d'affaires in Cuba had been promised he would be allowed to see the six men and one woman within the next 48 hours, and had been assured they were in good health.

"The Cubans have assured us that they are in good health, that they have been given access to telephones and that they have been offered legal help," a spokeswoman for the British embassy in Havana added.

The embassy was first notified of the detentions on October 9 in a telephone call from the Cuban authorities, while written confirmation followed three days latter in the form of a diplomatic note.

However no reason for the detentions was given until late on Tuesday.

Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain has warned the detentions could harm Anglo-Cuban ties.

He said on Tuesday he would summon Cuba's charge d'affaires in London to provide an explanation if the detained Britons were not granted consular access by Wednesday.

"We will continue to press the Cuban authorities to honour their obligations under international conventions and grant access to consular staff without delay," the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.

"Peter Hain plans to summon the Cuban charge in London (on Wednesday)," it added.

Britain identified one of the men held as Jonathan Fawcett.

The names of the others have not yet been released but their families in Britain have been informed.

The Sun tabloid newspaper quoted a colleague of the group who had returned to Britain before their detention as saying they had been hired by the wife of a Cuba-based executive to investigate whether he had fathered a child by a mistress.

"We were using state-of-the-art spying gear to try and trap one of the most powerful businessmen in the country," 29-year-old private detective Simon Palmer told the paper.

"The lads had everything from miniature cameras to bugging devices, video recorders and directional microphones," he added.

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