Castro's Ailment Not Malignant, Spanish Surgeon Says

Spanish surgeon José Luis García Sabrido said the Cuban leader is recovering slowly from a serious operation. (By Bernat Armangue -- Associated Press)

MADRID, Dec. 26 -- A Spanish surgeon who treated Fidel Castro said the ailing Cuban leader does not have cancer, insisting Tuesday he was recovering slowly but progressively from a serious operation.

The comments by Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, the chief surgeon at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon Hospital, represented the first independent medical assessment of Castro's condition since the Cuban leader underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July. The Cuban government has kept Castro's condition a state secret, occasionally releasing photographs and videos of him to show he is convalescing.

Garcia Sabrido visited Havana last week to examine Castro and consult with his medical team.

"He hasn't got cancer," Garcia Sabrido said, adding that he believed Castro could be physically able to run the country again. "While respecting confidentiality, I can tell you that President Castro is not suffering from any malignant sickness."

Garcia Sabrido declined to give details about Castro's condition, but said it was "a benign process in which there have been a series of complications."

Cuban authorities have denied Castro, 80, is suffering from terminal cancer as U.S. intelligence officials have said. Some U.S. doctors say Castro may suffer from diverticular disease, which can cause bleeding in the lower intestine, especially in people over 60. In some severe cases, emergency surgery is required.

Garcia Sabrido said he was impressed by Castro's good spirits.

"His intellectual activity is intact, I'd say fantastic," the surgeon said. "I was amazed at his capacity to relate personal and historical anecdotes."

There was no mention of Garcia Sabrido's visit in Cuba's state media.