Castro wishes Chinese president happy New Year

HAVANA, Dec 30 (Reuters) Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public for five months, telephoned the Chinese ambassador in Havana to discuss close ties between the two nations, state media said today.

Castro sent Chinese President Hu Jintao best wishes for the New Year during his conversation with Ambassador Zhao Rongxian on Thursday night, Cuba's ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma said.

He also thanked Chinese Health Minister Gao Qiang for visiting an eye hospital built in partnership with Cuba in Xining, the capital of northeastern Qinghai province, the daily said.

Cuba has been keen to show that Castro, 80 and afflicted by an undisclosed intestinal condition, is still involved in state matters, though he was forced to cede power temporarily to his brother Raul Castro on July 31 after emergency surgery.

A cartoon on Granma's front page on Thursday portrayed the hand of an apparently bedridden Castro holding a telephone and someone at the other end of the line saying ''At your orders, Commander in Chief.'' The Cuban leader's prolonged absence from the public eye has fueled speculation that he is terminally ill. Castro was last seen in video images released October 28 that showed a frail man who had difficulty walking.

US officials suspect Castro has cancer. US intelligence chief John Negroponte told The Washington Post on December 15 that Castro was likely to die within months.

But a Spanish surgeon who examined Castro said on Tuesday that he does not have cancer, is making a good recovery from intestinal surgery and could return to governing Cuba.

Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital, said Castro did not need further surgery but required physical therapy, a strict diet and rest.

''He does not have cancer, he has a problem with his digestive system,'' Garcia Sabrido told Reuters. ''President Castro has no malign inflammation, it's a benign process in which he has had a series of complications.'' Cuban officials said the doctor's statements corroborated what they have been saying for months. Castro's illness is a state secret. Not even the Spanish surgeon's visit to Havana and his statements were reported in the Cuban media.

The Chinese ambassador wished Castro a quick recovery, Granma said.

REUTERS AKJ VV1807