Castro walking about and eating well

Castro walking about and eating well
5.20am Wednesday September 20, 2006

HAVANA - Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is taking short walks in
his hospital room to loosen up his numb limbs and has a large appetite,
says a visiting friend.

Castro has not appeared in public since emergency surgery to stop
intestinal bleeding in late July forced him to hand over power to his
brother and designated heir Raul Castro for the first time since their
1959 revolution.

"We walked about the room," Argentine politician and journalist Miguel
Bonasso said in an article published by Cuba's ruling Communist Party
newspaper Granma.

"I have to get rid of the numbness," Castro told Bonasso.

Castro's undisclosed illness was blamed on overwork. Cuban officials
have denied he has stomach cancer.

Castro lost 18kg after surgery, but has regained 9kg, his main ally,
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said after seeing him last week.

Whether Castro would return to govern Cuba or settle into the role of
strategist remained to be seen, Bonasso wrote. He said it was too
difficult a question to put to Castro.

- REUTERS

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