Castro almost fully recovered -Alarcon

HAVANA, June 2 (Reuters) Cuban leader Fidel Castro has almost fully recovered from intestinal surgery that put his life at risk last year, a senior Cuban official told CNN.

National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon gave no indication of when or if Castro, who has been sidelined from power for the first time since his 1959 revolution, might return to governing Cuba.

''I think, in a way, he practically has fully recovered,'' Alarcon told CNN yesterday.

He said Castro, 80, who handed over power temporarily to his brother Raul Castro on July 31 after emergency surgery, has put the ''worst behind him.'' ''The problem was a very delicate surgery,'' Alarcon said.

''He had to have several surgeries. But it was a very risky situation. Now it is not anymore.'' Alarcon said Castro has been ''reading a lot and writing also.'' Castro has not appeared in public since he fell ill 10 months ago, although he bounced back into public life two months ago by writing regular columns on world issues from his convalescence quarters.

They range from US biofuels plans to global warming and British nuclear-powered attack submarines, and most are attacks on his ideological foe, US President George W Bush.

In a column published on Tuesday by the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma, Castro wrote that Bush had ordered him to be killed but gave no details.

Alarcon was unable to provide any evidence when asked about the allegation on CNN.

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