Castro looks stronger in new TV images

HAVANA, Jan 31 (Reuters) State television showed Fidel Castro for the first time in three months and the ailing Cuban leader said he was still in the fight to recover.

Castro, 80, looked stronger but still frail in images of Monday's two-hour meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, his closest ally in Latin America.

''This is far from being a lost battle,'' Castro said. He spoke slowly in an almost unintelligible voice in footage that showed him drinking orange juice and standing.

Castro dropped from public view six months ago after emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding.

Castro temporarily handed over power to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, on July 31, the first time he had relinquished control since his 1959 revolution.

He was last seen on an October 28 video clip looking very frail and walking with difficulty. He appeared to have put on weight in the latest images.

Cuba has denied Castro has cancer but his precise illness is a state secret. He is thought to be suffering from diverticulitis, a disorder of the large intestine.

A Spanish doctor who examined him in December said two weeks ago that Castro is making a ''slow but progressive'' recovery, although his condition is serious due to his age.

Dr Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon public hospital, said Castro has suffered complications after surgery on his digestive system but may recover.

He largely dismissed reports by Spain's El Pais newspaper that said Castro had undergone three botched operations for diverticulitis.

Chavez said on Jan 19 that the Cuban leader was ''fighting for his life''. A few days later, he said Castro was up and walking, adding in a light-hearted tone that he was almost jogging.

Reuters DH VP0650