At least nine opposition leaders and independent journalists have been arrested in Cuba in recent days, according to sources on the island. Some were released after being questioned.

Odalis Curbelo Sanchez, correspondent for Cuba Press in Pinar del Rio, was the latest target. She was arrested Friday morning at her home, the sources said.

The roundup began Monday, the start of the World Festival of Youth and Students, which runs through next Tuesday in several Cuban cities.

Juan Antonio Sanchez of Cuba Press' Havana office was arrested Monday in Pinar del Rio, according to Raul Rivero, the agency's director. Sanchez's wife, Maria Felix Alvarez, told The Herald that his arrest ``was designed so he couldn't report on the festival.''

Sanchez was in Pinar del Rio visiting his ailing father, Alvarez said.

Lorenzo Paez Nuñez and Luis Lopez Prendes, both of the Cuban Independent Press Bureau, are also under custody in Havana. Edel Jose Garcia of the CNP agency, who lives in Caibarien, Villa Clara province, was arrested Thursday night.

During the week, police authorities in Havana summoned several journalists for questioning, among them Rivero of Cuba Press, Gustavo Rafael Rodriguez of CNP and Nicolas Rosario Rosabal of Havana Press.

According to Ana Lopez Baeza of Cuba Press, they were treated harshly by their interrogators and warned not to discuss the youth festival in their reports to news outlets abroad.

Three opposition activists were also arrested this week and remain in prison: Hector Trujillo Pis of the Social Democratic Party, and Juan Carlos Chavez and Librado Linares Garcia of the Reflection Movement.

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald