By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA - Cuba freed an independent journalist from prison Thursday, the sixth dissident released this week as the communist government tried to show international observers it is cleaning up its human rights record.

Edel Jose Garcia Diaz, 60, was freed early Thursday, his sister, Esperanza Garcia, told The Associated Press by telephone. She said her brother called her from a telephone on the streets of Havana and was unsure of his exact whereabouts. She said he suffered emotional problems and a cyst on his kidney.

Like the others released this week, Garcia was among a group of 75 dissidents who were rounded up in March 2003. His release comes as the European Union reviews diplomatic sanctions against the island nation.

Another seven were released for medical reasons in recent months, bringing to 13 the number of those freed from the original group and leaving another 62 still behind bars.

As many as 18 of the dissidents were transferred from provincial penitentiaries to the main prison hospital in Havana, fueling hopes they might be liberated.

Activist physician Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and veteran opposition politician Hector Palacios were among those transferred late Tuesday from provincial prisons to the hospital at Combinado del Este Prison in Havana, their wives said.

Five activists who were released this week, including the writer Raul Rivero, were transferred to the same prison hospital for checkups before their releases for health reasons on Monday and Tuesday. Others from the group of more than a dozen were sent back to prison.

Fidel Castro's government made no public statement about the releases, but analysts believe Cuba is signaling flexibility amid warming relations with Europe.

At the same time, authorities appear to be using the medical checkups to determine who among the group are the most ill and releasing them to ensure none becomes more sick or dies in custody.

At the time of the crackdown, Cuba accused the dissidents of working with the U.S. government to undermine the island's communist system — charges all the activists and American officials deny.

The European Union, Cuba's most important source of tourism and trade, condemned the crackdown as well as the April 11, 2003 firing-squad executions of three men who tried to hijack a ferry during a brewing migration crisis.

The 15-member EU later responded with measures against Cuba, including the practice of inviting dissidents to national day celebrations at embassies in Havana. The measures enraged Cuban authorities, who cut off formal contacts with the ambassadors while still maintaining diplomatic relations.

But the EU, at the urging of the new Socialist government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is now reviewing whether to drop the measures.

Cuba and Spain resumed formal contacts last week. Although Zapatero has criticized the crackdown, he also says it is time for the EU to work together to encourage the Caribbean island to open up.

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