President Nangolo Mbumba has hailed the decision by the US government to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, as a step in the right direction.

In a statement, Dr. Mbumba says the de-listing is equally a step towards the normalisation of relations between Cuba and the US. 

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the removal of Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in a deal that was brokered by the Catholic Church. 

President Biden removed Cuba from the list less than a week before he stepped down and Donald Trump took over.

Cuba announced that it would reciprocate the deal by releasing more than 550 political prisoners.

The Presidency says Namibia welcomes the de-listing as it had been a vocal advocate on international fora for the removal, deeming it arbitrary, unjust, and with no basis in international law.

President Mbumba, who recently reiterated these calls during the state visit to Cuba and meetings with President Miguel Diaz-Canel, urged the US to do what he terms more in the aftermath of the de-listing.

"Namibia, President Mbumba, and senior leaders have used a number of international platforms, including the UN and AU, to call for the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and also the lifting of economic sanctions against the people of Cuba. Although welcoming the decision to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Mbumba believes that the US government should go a step further by lifting completely the economic sanctions against the people of Cuba," said Press Secretary Dr. Alfredo Hengari.

In 2015, former US President Barack Obama announced the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a move that was widely hailed as normalising relations between Washington and Havana.

Obama's successor, Donald Trump, rescinded the decision just two years later and tightened decades-old sanctions.