Castro said recovering, return to power expected

HAVANA, Nov 11 (Reuters) Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering and expected to return to power, but he may not be well enough to attend his 80th birthday celebration on Dec.

2, the head of Cuba's National Assembly said.

''I know he's doing well, that he continues to recover, fulfilling his rehabilitation program with discipline,'' Ricardo Alarcon told reporters at a journalism conference in the Cuban capital yesterday.

''I am sure that process will go on in the proper way to having him fully back,'' said Alarcon, one of Castro's closest advisers.

Castro has been out of power and public view except for photos and videos since intestinal surgery for an undisclosed illness 3-1/2 months ago forced him to temporarily put his brother Raul in charge.

A video released Oct 28 showed Castro looking so aged and gaunt that it raised questions about how well he was doing.

He is expected to make his first public appearance at the Dec. 2 event, which will mark both his birthday and the 50th anniversary of the start of the revolution that put him in power in 1959.

But Alarcon, like other Cuban officials of late, held open the possibility he may not make it.

''It's in his hands, but it depends on the judgment of his doctors,'' he said.

Castro turned 80 on Aug. 13, but was not well enough for a celebration, so it was postponed to Dec 2.

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