Cuba's Fidel Castro set for live talk show appearance

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Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro is expected shortly to make his first appearance on live TV for four years.

The 83-year-old was invited by Cuban state TV to discuss his concerns about the Middle East on a talk show.

His expected appearance on Mesa Redonda (Round Table) was on the front page of Communist Party newspaper Granma.

At the weekend, images emerged of him in public for the first time since July 2006 when he underwent major surgery and retired from public life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10606890.stm

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1. Castro speaks slowly, seems relaxed in interview

HAVANA — Fidel Castro is speaking slowly, but appears relaxed and cogent in his most prominent television interview in years. The 83-year-old former president talked about the conflict between North and South Korea at the start of an interview Monday on the "Mesa Redonda" — or "Round Table" — a daily Cuban talk show on current events.

It was a rare appearance for a man who has stayed largely out of the public eye since a serious illness four years ago forced him from power. The first photographs of the revolutionary leader in a public forum were published on Saturday, when images of him greeting workers at a Havana think tank appeared in Cuban media.

Castro has shunned the spotlight since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

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