US laughs off charge that Bush wanted Castro killed
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| Published on Thursday, May 31, 2007 |
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WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The White House reacted with laughter on Wednesday to Cuban leader Fidel Castro's accusation that President George W. Bush had sought to have him killed.
"Oh, my goodness," replied White House spokesman Tony Snow, when questioned about an article released on Monday in which Castro claimed: "I am not the first and will not be the last that Bush ordered deprived of life."
"It's Fidel Castro," was the spokesman's only explanation.
The 80-year-old communist leader, a long-time foe of Washington, has kept out of view since July 2006 when he fell ill but has kept up communications in recent months with a series of articles in the communist daily Granma.
Monday's was his 13th article in two months.
He has said he had several operations but the precise nature of his ailment remains a mystery.
Castro came to power in 1959 when his forces toppled the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. The United States considers Castro a major adversary and has long supported Cuban opponents of his government.
In Monday's article, he alleged that Bush was recently queried "by an important person" over his Cuba policy and replied, according to the Cuban leader: "I am a hard-line president and I only await Castro's death." |
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