CUBA Officials suddenly release some dissidents

Ten of the original group of 75 have been freed.
HAVANA (AP) -- Several of the original 75 dissidents arrested in a broad crackdown last year were released Monday without warning, according to friends, relatives and local rights activists. The move raised hopes for additional releases in the coming days.
Those freed on parole included economics writer Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who had been hospitalized behind bars for months with a liver ailment. Espinosa Chepe's cause has become well known among some rights groups outside of Cuba.
"I'm feeling happy now," Espinosa Chepe told The Associated Press at his Havana home, noting that Monday was his 64th birthday. "I had been really pessimistic. I didn't think I was going to be let out."
Despite the difficulties he suffered in jail, Espinosa Chepe said he had no intention of leaving Cuba.
"I feel Cuban and I want to die in my own country," he said.
Others
Also freed early Monday were physician Dr. Marcelo Lopez, as well as fellow dissident Margarito Broche.
Veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, Marcela Sanchez's brother, confirmed the Monday morning release of Broche. Elizardo Sanchez heads the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation, which tracks the island's political prisoners.
Elizardo Sanchez also confirmed the release Monday of Jesus Mustafa Felipe, who was arrested a month before the original 75 and had finished serving his 18-month prison term.
Total
The latest releases bring to 10 the number of dissidents in the original group of 75 who have since been freed after being sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years in April 2003.