The Canadian government has joined the United States and European nations in condemning the death of a jailed Cuban dissident after a lengthy hunger strike.

A picture of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo hangs on a door during a service in Havana, Wednesday, following his death during a hunger strike. (Franklin Reyes/Associated Press)

Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death has prompted international outcry and an unprecedented statement of regret from Cuban President Raul Castro.

In a statement Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada is "profoundly saddened" by the death of the Cuban "prisoner of conscience."

"Canada regrets this tragedy and calls on the Cuban government to release all political prisoners and to show greater tolerance for Cubans who express opposing views," Cannon said.

Zapata Tamayo was one of the 75 people arrested and jailed in 2003 as part of a government crackdown on opposition groups. The 42-year-old dissident persisted in an 85-day hunger strike and finally died Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first imprisoned opposition figure to die after a hunger strike in nearly four decades.

The hunger strike was in protest of what he said were poor prison conditions on the island.

In a statement released Wednesday by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the Cuban president said Zapata Tamayo's death "is a result of the relationship with the United States," but did not elaborate.

According to Cuban human rights leader Elizardo Sanchez, Zapata Tamayo was arrested in 2003 and held for months without charge before being sentenced to three years in prison in his native Holguin province for disrespecting police authority.

Zapata Tamayo was subsequently sentenced to 25 years behind bars, Sanchez said, and was deemed by Amnesty International to be "a prisoner of conscience."

With files from The Associated Press