BY NANCY SAN MARTIN

  Beginning early next year, Cubans living in the United States will no longer need permission from Havana officials to visit their homeland, Cuba's foreign minister
  reportedly said at a meeting in New York.

  Felipe Pérez Roque, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, also told the crowd of about 250 Cuban Americans that a conference between exiles and Cuban officials would take place May 27-29, according to several people who attended the meeting Saturday.

  The Nation and Emigration conference was called off in April in the midst of an island-wide crackdown that landed 75 dissidents in jail.

  Both announcements were received with cheers and a standing ovation, according to those who attended the meeting at a union headquarters in New York.

  ''Pandemonium,'' said Elena Freyre, executive director of the Cuban American Defense League in Miami. ``People were really happy. It's a step in a very positive
  direction.''

  Cubans who live abroad have long complained that they must obtain prior clearance from the Cuban government if they want to visit their homeland, saying it makes them feel like foreigners in their own country.

  ''We are delighted that the Cuban government has decided to make [the suspension of the requirement] a reality.'' said Silvia Wilhelm, executive director of Puentes Cubanos, an anti-embargo organization in Miami.

  Roque told the audience that a passport was all that would be required for Cubans to visit, several people at the meeting said. But it was unclear if that meant that
  Cubans with U.S. citizenship would have to obtain a Cuban passport.