NAM Summit opens minus Castro

Havana, Sep 15 (UNI) The 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit opened here today with a fierce attack by the hosts against the US and the West as expected but without the charismatic presence of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The 80-year-old Castro was still elected the Chairman of the Conference. First Vice-President Raul Castro, who is acting as President while his elder brother recuperates from an intestinal surgery in July, conducted the proceedings of the summit.

Cuba took over as Chairman of the grouping from Malaysia today.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is leading the Indian delegation to the two-day summit that is being attended by leaders of 116 member-countries.

Other leaders attending the summit from across the globe include Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in a statement at the summit that President Castro was recovering but was still too ill to chair the summit.

Despite the strictness and the will power with which he does his treatments and physiotherapy, the doctors have insisted that he continue resting.

"As Fidel himself has informed publicly, he follows the medical recommendations to the letter and, therefore, he will not be leading the Cuban delegation to the Summit," the statement said.

"Once he is fully capable of resuming his duties, Fidel will be the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement," it added.

The Cuban leader's health has loomed large over the summit at which Iran and others opposed to US policies are seeking to forge a united front. These include Venezuela and North Korea. Cuba itself has been under a US embargo since 1962.

India and Pakistan are among countries at the summit that are now seen as closer to Washington, though Dr Singh has been at pains to explain that India's ties with the US are not at the expense of any other country.

EXTERNAL-PM-LEAD NAM TWO HAVANA The summit is expected to discuss major global and regional issues such as the situation in Lebanon, expansion of the UN Security Council and the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.

The highlight of Dr Singh's stay in Havana will be a bilateral meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf tomorrow on the sidelines of the summit, their first interaction in a year.

The Prime Minister will use the opportunity to convey to Gen Musharraf that there cannot be forward movement in the peace process unless Pakistan provides susbtantive evidence to show that it had stopped supporting cross-border terrorism against India.

The two leaders had last met in September, 2005, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Dr Singh will have bilateral talks with the leaders of several other countries, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Lebanon, Mauritius and Mongolia, Indian officials said. He will also meet United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The Indian delegation to the summit includes Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and National Security Adviser M K Narayanan

"Over recent years, several member countries have been the victims of inadmissible acts of aggression, basically motivated by an insatiable hunger for strategic resources, which have in turn taken their toll on international peace and security," he said. He said unilateral action taken in the name of fighting terrorism, promoting democracy or the existence of rogue states had "made the risk of attck and of successive wars of imperial conquest more serious and widespread than ever before." "We are speaking with the experience of a country that has withstood more than 45 years of blockade and aggression of all kinds.

"With the application of their irrational policy against Cuba, the United States has gone to the extreme of presenting an official plan aimed at destroying our social system, openly announcing that it has a secret annex containing measures and actions to achieve this end," Mr Castro said.

"Only unity and solidarity, the united stance in defence of our common aims and interests offer an alternative to the overwhelming danger and challenges facing us," he said.

Mr Castro said NAM must wage courageous battles against unilateralism, double standards and the impunity granted to those in power.

Among other things, he defended the right of member-countries to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and called for complete disarmament, including nuclear weapons.

"Let us denounce the hypocrisy of the US government, which while supporting Israel's bid to increase their nuclear arsenal, is threatening Iran in an attempt to prevent the peaceful use of nuclear energy," he added.

UNI