Cuba releasing 7 dissidents

HAVANA, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Cuba has agreed to release seven dissidents it has been holding since its 2003 crackdown on political opposition, the Catholic Church said Saturday.

CNN reported the church said six of the men had agreed to go into exile in Spain. The seventh, the church said, is Ivan Hernandez, who has been authorized to leave prison but refuses to leave Cuba.

Cuban President Raul Castro agreed last year to free all 52 detainees held since the 2003 action against the country's political dissidents. Most have now been released.