American jailed in Cuba ends hunger strike

US contractor Alan Gross ended an eight-day hunger strike to press for his release from prison in Cuba.
Gross moved to end his protest after a telephone conversation with his mother yesterday, who will turn 92 year old on Tuesday, according to defence attorney Scott Gilbert.
"My protest fast is suspended as of today," Gross said in a statement dictated from his Havana prison to Gilbert.
But he warned that "there will be further protests to come," without specifying what those might be.
"There will be no cause for further intense protest when both governments show more concern for human beings and less malice and derision toward each other," the statement added.

Gilbert noted that his client's "family and friends have been very concerned about his health and have asked him to end his fast."

The 64-year-old was arrested in December 2009 for allegedly distributing telecommunications equipment to members of Cuba's Jewish community under a contract with the US Agency for International Development.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 after being convicted of "acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state."
Gross, who has been held for more than four year, has asked President Barack Obama to personally intervene to help him return to the United States.

He had launched his fast on April 3 to protest his "inhumane treatment."
His hunger strike came amid disclosures that USAID created a Twitter-like social network from 2009 to 2012 to enable Cubans to debate conditions on the island among themselves.
Critics have noted that Washington continued the ZunZuneo project after Gross's arrest, thus potentially jeopardising his future well-being.