Castro too ill to host meal at summit?

HAVANA — Cuba's foreign minister said Sunday it was not certain that Fidel Castro will host a dinner for visiting leaders as noted in a schedule, raising doubts over whether the ailing leader would make his first public appearance since undergoing surgery.

A dinner hosted by Castro for dignitaries attending this week's Nonaligned Movement summit was mentioned in a schedule sent Sunday by the government to international media.

But Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said he could not confirm the leader's participation in the Friday event. "Fidel is recovering satisfactorily, the worst has been left behind," Perez Roque said at a news conference.

"I cannot yet confirm his presence at the dinner," Perez Roque said. "I can confirm that the head of the Cuban delegation at that moment will be offering those dignitaries that dinner."

The 80-year-old leader announced July 31 he had undergone emergency surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment and provisionally handed over power as Cuba's president and Communist Party head to his younger brother, 75-year-old Defense Minister Raul Castro.

"If Fidel is not there, then Raul will act as host at the dinner," Perez Roque said.

"Logically, the physical absence of Fidel in all of the summit work constitutes a notable loss," Perez Roque said. "All of us would like him to head the delegation and be there all the time. If that does not occur, we have made great preparations under his personal direction."

After the news conference, a different version of the Nonaligned schedule was sent to international journalists permanently accredited in Cuba, with a note saying it was the "valid" version. Although the Friday night dinner was still listed, any mention of Castro hosting it had been removed.

Dozens of heads of state and government are expected for the summit starting Monday in Havana, during which Malaysia will turn over the chairmanship of the movement to Cuba for the next three years.

The nature of Castro's surgery and his specific ailment have been treated as a state secret, although photographs and statements from him have been released.

Earlier in the week, Castro said in a statement published in state media he would be able to meet with some visiting dignitaries, but gave the sense that those meetings would be small and private.