WASHINGTON (AP) — An American imprisoned in Cuba for more than four years after illegally working to set up Internet access on the island suspended his hunger strike Friday after more than a week.

Alan Gross, 64, had eaten his last solid meal April 2 and said in a statement that he was fasting to protest his treatment by the U.S. and Cuban governments. In a statement released through his lawyer, Gross said he suspended his fast Friday because his 91-year-old mother asked him to stop. Gross, who lived in Maryland before his arrest, said he was suspending his “protest fast” but “there will be further protests to come.”