U.S. official - Guantanamo 'not on table' in Cuba talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department official leading negotiations with the Cuban government said on Wednesday the return of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is not being considered in those talks.

"The issue of Guantanamo is not on the table in these conversations," Roberta Jacobson, the assistant secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, testified during a House of Representatives hearing.

Cuban President Raul Castro said last month that Havana's demands in talks with the United States toward normalizing diplomatic relations had included the return of the base.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Trott)