WASHINGTON: The head of the US Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah, said on Wednesday that he would step down from his post in February.

Earlier Wednesday, the US government announced it would start talks towards restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba where the agency Mr Shah headed had funded anti- government activities.

“It’s with mixed emotions that I informed President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry that I will step down as Administrator in mid-February 2015,” said Mr Shah while announcing his resignation. President Obama confirmed the resignation and noted that for the past five years, Mr Shah had been at the centre of his administration’s efforts to advance his global development agenda.

Mr Shah “embodied America’s finest values by proactively advancing our development priorities, including ending global poverty, championing food security, promoting health and nutrition, expanding access to energy sources, and supporting political and economic reform in closed societies,” said the president in a statement issued by his office.

Neither Mr Shah nor the president mentioned the Cuba factor but the US media pointed out that under him the Usaid funded several controversial programmes in Cuba.

These included a Twitter-like service to encourage dissent against the Cuban government and a health workshop to recruit activists. The agency also funded another programme to infiltrate Cuba’s hip-hop community.

Mr Shah’s announcement also came hours before US officials confirmed on Wednesday that Cuba had released an Usuaid contractor Alan Gross. He was arrested in December 2009 and later sentenced to 15 years after Cuban authorities said he tried to smuggle illegal technology into the country.

Following disclosures of the agency’s alleged involvement in funding anti-government activities in Cuba, Usaid prepared internal rules to end undercover work in hostile countries. The AP found Usaid and its contractor, Creative Associates International, concealed their involvement in the Cuban programmes — setting up front companies, routing money through overseas bank transactions and fashioning elaborate cover stories. Usaid is the lead US government agency for providing financial and technical support to developing nations.

A fact sheet released by the White House said the US administration was “now taking historic steps to chart a new course in our relations with Cuba and to further engage and empower the Cuban people”. It noted that “at times, longstanding US policy towards Cuba has isolated the United States from regional and international partners”.

Published in Dawn December 18th , 2014