US welcomes Cuban doctors from Zimbabwe

The United States authorities say they are prepared to grant refugee status to two Cuban doctors who defected while working in Zimbabwe.

The doctors -- Leonel Cordova Rodriguez and Noris Pena Martinez -- were sent to Zimbabwe in February as part of a Cuban aid programme to provide medical care in rural areas.

They left their work in May and sought to emigrate to Canada.

The Zimbabwean authorities detained them and sought to extradite them to Cuba but were stopped by the United Nations refugee agency, which recognised the pair as refugees.

US officials say they expect the pair to move to the US once they have completed formalities with the immigration service.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service