• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 06 / 11 / 2011

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AFP. US delegation visits detained contractor in Cuba AFP/File – Judy Gross (R) wife of US citizen Alan Gross, walks accompanied by an unidentified man, in March 2011 …

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A visiting US delegation spent two hours in Cuba on Friday with imprisoned American contractor Alan Gross, who said he did not want to be forgotten.

Gross, 62, was arrested in Cuba in December 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in March after he was convicted of illegally distributing Internet equipment in the country.

The delegation, which included a former head of the Democratic National Committee, Donna Brazile, spent two hours with the contractor.

The initiative was "totally private," according to US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, who said Gross was last visited by members of the US Special Interests section in Cuba on May 31.

Gross's lawyer has appealed his conviction to Cuba's Supreme Court.

The contractor was working on a US Agency for International Development-funded democracy building program when he was arrested.

He has reportedly lost nearly 45 kilograms (100 pounds) since being detained.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110610/pl_afp/