Agence France Press reports:

HAVANA — The US diplomatic mission in Cuba has convened a meeting here with relatives of political prisoners who are refusing an offer to leave and emigrate to Spain, wives of the jailed dissidents told AFP.

Representatives of the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish embassy were also to attend the 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) meeting with officials from US consular services and the mission's refugee section, they said.

"All we know is that they have invited a representative of each prisoner who has not been contacted by the church or who have refused to travel to Spain," said Laura Pollan, the head of the Ladies in White, a group of wives of political prisoners.

So far, 11 political prisoners have emigrated to Spain and another nine were expected to arrive in Madrid this week as part of Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.