'Most critical moment' is over, ailing Castro says

Fidel Castro, looking gaunt and wearing pajamas in new photos released Tuesday, said he has lost more than 41 pounds since intestinal surgery, but his stitches are out and the "most critical moment" of his health crisis is over.

The 80-year-old Castro also said in a statement Tuesday that he's ready to receive "distinguished visitors" — an apparent reference to the heads of state expected in Havana for next week's summit of nonaligned nations. It was not clear, however, whether he would be well enough to actually host the event.

"Today I am recovering at a satisfactory rhythm," Castro said in the statement published in the Communist Party daily Granma, which was accompanied by seven photographs of him.

Castro said the last stitches from his surgery were recently removed, and "I can affirm that the most critical moment has been left behind."

The photographs of Castro during his convalescence showed his bearded face looking gaunt and his arms and legs long and bony.

Castro is more than 6 feet tall and in recent years has been on the thin side. But even before his surgery, he looked extremely thin at his last public appearance on July 26 when he gave a pair of speeches in eastern Cuba.

The Cuban leader announced he had undergone an emergency intestinal operation on July 31 and for the first time in 47 years of rule was temporarily ceding power as head of the government and the Communist Party to his 75-year-old brother Raul, the defense minister.

The nature of Castro's surgery and his specific ailment have been treated as a state secret.

In all of the photographs released Tuesday, Castro was shown sitting up and wearing short-sleeved pajamas — one set a light-blue color, the other a dark navy. In several, he was reading or writing.

Most of the pictures showed the leader from the waist up, although one showed his whole body as he sat in a rocking chair with slippers on his feet, reading what looks to be a newspaper.

In another, Castro held up a broadsheet proof of the cover of a new book written from a series of interviews he gave to French journalist Ignacio Ramonet. Castro said he was reviewing the book during his recovery, but added, "I have not failed to strictly follow my duties as a disciplined patient."

"In the coming days I will be receiving distinguished visitors," he added, an apparent reference to the 14th summit of Nonaligned Movement nations to be held here Sept. 11-16.