(Above) Foreign journalists who need not fear arrest in Cuba and will have their Cuban visas promptly renewed.

Cuban Journalist visas are actually available in several attractive color patterns.

"Four Italians have been arrested in Cuba," a foreign office source told AFP. "We have alerted the Italian embassy in Havana and are following the situation closely. We are still trying to verify the reason behind the arrests."

The officials would not release the names of the journalists for security reasons, but said their families had been informed.

Italian media reports said two of the journalists work for Italian media company Mediaset, while the others work for the Messaggero Veneto and Corriere della Sera newspapers.

The four were arrested late Friday night but Corriere della Sera photographer Stefano Cavicchi was released hours later, the reports said.

The Mediaset journalists were working on a report into a murder case, in which a young Cuban girl admitted to killing a couple in Italy in August.