Castro in serious condition - Spanish newspaper

HAVANA, Jan 16 (Reuters) Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in serious condition after complications following three failed operations on his large intestine for diverticulitis, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported yesterday.

Castro suffered an infection that worsened to peritonitis, the newspaper's edition today said, citing two medical sources at the Madrid hospital where a surgeon who visited Castro in December works. The report was posted on the newspaper's Web site.

Castro, who took power in Cuba in 1959, has not been seen in public since July 26. He handed over power to his brother five days later, fueling speculation he is so ill he may never return to power on the communist-run Caribbean island.

In a New Year's message issued on December 30, Castro told Cubans that he was recovering slowly from surgery and said his recovery was ''far from being a lost battle.'' Also in December, a Spanish doctor who examined Castro said he does not have cancer and could return to govern Cuba if he recovered fully from his surgery.

REUTERS PKS BST0742