BY LESLEY CLARK

Cuba made the State Department's annual list of state sponsors of terrorism Thursday -- but with tempered language that may reflect an Obama administration interested in improving relations with Havana.

Critics of U.S.-Cuba policy have championed the communist nation's removal from the list, saying it no longer meets the criteria. The other countries on the list: Iran, Syria and Sudan.

But the 2008 report says that while Cuba ''no longer actively supports armed struggle in Latin America and other parts of the world,'' the government ``continued to provide safe haven to several terrorists.''

It notes that members of Spain's separatist ETA group and Colombia's FARC and ELN rebels remained in Cuba during 2008 and that ''Cuban authorities continued to publicly defend the FARC.'' But it singles out former Cuban President Fidel Castro for calling on FARC in July 2008 to release the hostages it was holding.

''He has also condemned the FARC's mistreatment of captives and of their abduction of civilian politicians who had no role in the armed conflict,'' the report states.

It also notes that the United States ``has no evidence of terrorist-related money laundering or terrorist financing activities in Cuba, although Cuba has one of the world's most secretive and non-transparent national banking systems.''

The report comes two weeks after President Barack Obama lifted travel and cash transfer restrictions for those with relatives on the island in a bid to thaw relations between the two countries. Cuba watchers suggested it may be a first step toward removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

''It's a big gesture on their part to recognize Fidel Castro's statements about the FARC,'' said Philip Peters of the Lexington Institute. ``It sounds to me like Cuba is on its way to coming off the list.''

Asked about that possibility at a State Department briefing, Ronald Schlicher, the acting coordinator of counterterrorism, said the report is not ``laying the groundwork for anything.''

After the briefing, a State Department official said, ``It's a new administration and they're examining the language a little more carefully.''

McClatchy reporter Warren Strobel contributed to this report.