12:21pm EST. HAVANA, Nov 18 (Reuters - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said his frail health had forced him to delegate his powers as head of Cuba's Communist Party, suggesting that perhaps he had resigned his last leadership post. State-run press said on Thursday he told students in a Wednesday meeting he was not with them in his position as the ruling party's First Secretary.">12:21pm EST. HAVANA, Nov 18 (Reuters - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said his frail health had forced him to delegate his powers as head of Cuba's Communist Party, suggesting that perhaps he had resigned his last leadership post. State-run press said on Thursday he told students in a Wednesday meeting he was not with them in his position as the ruling party's First Secretary.">

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Leader Fidel Castro says delegated powers as party head

12:21pm EST. HAVANA, Nov 18 (Reuters - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said his frail health had forced him to delegate his powers as head of Cuba's Communist Party, suggesting that perhaps he had resigned his last leadership post.

State-run press said on Thursday he told students in a Wednesday meeting he was not with them in his position as the ruling party's First Secretary.

"I got sick and did what I had to do -- delegate my powers. I cannot do something that I am not in condition to dedicate to full time," he said.

Castro, then president, provisionally ceded power to his brother Raul Castro in 2006 after undergoing surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment, then officially resigned as president in February 2008.

At least in name, he remained as head of the party, which is Cuba's only legal political party and has scheduled a congress in April to determine the island's future economic policy. Fidel Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years after taking power in a 1959 revolution.

(Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/118995

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