Castro said to have terminal cancer

WASHINGTON - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is believed to have terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to power, a magazine reported, citing US government officials.

Despite remarks by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on Wednesday that Castro "continues to recover (and) we will have him back leading the Revolution," Time magazine reported on its website that many US officials are now convinced that Castro has terminal cancer and will never retake power.

Picture of Cuban President Fidel Castro published 05 September 2006 in the official daily Granma in Havana. Castro is believed to have terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to power, a magazine reported, citing US government officials.[AFP\File]

"Certainly we have heard this, that this guy has terminal cancer," a US official told the magazine on condition of anonymity.

Castro, 80, handed over the presidency for the first time in almost five decades to his brother Raul Castro, 75, who has long been Cuba's defense chief, after undergoing intestinal surgery in July. He has largely remained out of the public spotlight since then.

Time.com noted in the report that the intelligence reports on Castro's health could be wrong, but reporter Tim Burger, one of the article's authors, told CNN television: "Obviously there is intelligence to that effect" that Castro will not recover and return to work.

"There have been lots of rumors over the decades about Castro's health. This time, there's specificity and they attribute credibility to the reports," Burger said.