Adams to unveil Cuba memorial

HAVANA, Cuba -- Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams is in Cuba to unveil a memorial to republican hunger strikers who died in 1981.

Adams is also expected to meet Cuban President Fidel Castro during his three-day stay on the Caribbean island.

Ten republican prisoners -- including MP Bobby Sands -- starved themselves to death during hunger strikes at the Maze Prison in Belfast as they fought for political recognition.

"When the 10 hunger strikers died, there was strong support from Cuba, and especially from President Fidel Castro," Adams told reporters on his arrival Havana airport on Sunday.

Adams said there was much for Irish republicans to learn from the Cubans, and commended their work to overcome illiteracy and improve their health services.

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"The fact that people struggle despite all the difficulties, all the impoverished conditions and despite the hostility of the U.S. government can survive and help others, is a big lesson to everybody," he said.

Although Adams says he was not concerned about any possible adverse reaction in the United States to his presence in Cuba -- with whom Washington cut ties four decades ago -- observers say his visit risks awakening controversy.

The U.S. government cautioned in September that Adams' trip to Cuba would raise "troubling questions" if it turned out the IRA had links to guerrillas in Colombia.

Three suspected IRA members are currently jailed in Colombia suspected of training left-wing FARC rebels there. One of those arrested was Niall Connolly -- Sinn Fein's representative in Cuba.

Adams initially denied that Connolly was a Sinn Fein official, then said he had been appointed to the post without his knowledge.

Castro talks

Sinn Fein, which opposes British rule in Northern Ireland, has been striving to build up its political standing in the United States, where it draws considerable financial support from Irish-Americans.

Adams, MP for West Belfast, is due to unveil a memorial to the hunger strikers, which was commissioned and funded by Irish republicans, in the centre of Havana on Tuesday.

He is also due to lay a wreath to the 19th century Cuban rebel Jose Marti tomorrow and will be meeting key government officials before holding talks with President Castro, in power for nearly 43 years since his 1959 Cuban Revolution, later this week.

He will also pay a fact-finding visit to a hospital.

Adams said he believed supporters of Sinn Fein in America would understand his reasons for going.

"Having been in America as recently as November, there will be some people clearly who support the peace process, who support Sinn Fein, who support the Irish cause who will not agree with me going to Cuba but I think they will accept and understand it.

"Others who do not support us, who do not support the peace process, who are anti-Sinn Fein will seize on the visit, will try to grab headlines and whip up media controversy.

"That is for them. It is their right. It is their entitlement. However, I have a public commitment to go to Cuba and to unveil this memorial."