KINGSTON, Jamaica – President of the United States Barack Obama says he will decide soon whether to remove Cuba from the US list of State sponsors of terrorism.

He made the disclosure during a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Jamaica Portia Simpson Miller at Jamaica House in Kingston today.

The US president said the decision can now be made since the US State Department has finished a review on the question as part of the move to reopen diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Cuba is one of four countries currently on this list and was so designated on March 1, 1982. The other three are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

According to the State Department’s website, countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism are designated pursuant to three laws: section 6 (j) of the Export Administration Act, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act.

The website said, taken together, the four main categories of sanctions resulting from designation under these authorities include restrictions on US foreign assistance; a ban on defence exports and sales; certain controls over exports of dual use items; and miscellaneous financial and other restrictions.

“Designation under these authorities also implicates other sanctions laws that penalise persons and countries engaging in certain trade with State sponsors,” the State Department’s website said.

President Obama arrived in Jamaica late Wednesday and is expected to depart the island later this evening for the Seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama.

He is currently participating in multiateral talks with the Jamaican Government and Caricom heads of government and will later attend a youth forum at the University of the West Indies, and a wreath laying at the Cenotaph in National Heroes Park in honour of the Jamaicans who fought and died in World War I and II.