• Submitted by: admin
• Politics and Government
• 09 / 22 / 2007

FIDEL CASTRO looked alert during a surprise hour-long interview on Cuban TV, responding to rumours of his death with a defiant "here I am".

In the first video of the ailing 81-year-old Cuban leader seen in more than three months, a pale Castro spoke slowly and softly, but appeared to be thinking clearly.

Castro said he thought the Bush administration could go to war with Iran and bemoaned the high cost of the war in Iraq, but provided no new details about his health, except to say: "Well, here I am."

He mocked rumours of his death that have circulated in the US. "They say I was dying and 'if I die' and 'I will die the day after tomorrow' or something," Castro said. "Nobody knows the day they are going to die."

Castro was forced to cede power to his younger brother Raul in July last year following emergency intestinal surgery.

Early on in the interview, a gaunt looking Castro often trailed off mid-sentence, but appeared to get more comfortable as time passed.

Source: Scotman.com