Castro calls Obama's UN speech 'gibberish'

HAVANA - Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro accused US President Barack Obama of speaking "gibberish" in his recent address to the United Nations and called NATO's actions in Libya a "monstrous crime" on Monday in his first opinion column since early July.

Castro, 85, has been mostly out of sight the past few months, which combined with the absence of his usual steady flow of columns, had prompted rumors his health was worsening.

He wrote he was involved in work that occupied all his time and therefore he had not been writing what he calls his "reflections". But he said he wanted to comment on the UN General Assembly in New York and in particular Obama's speech last week.