Fidel Castro calls NATO “brutal” for Libya role

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro  denounced NATO today for its role in the overthrow of  Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying the “brutal military  alliance has become the most perfidious instrument of  repression the history of humanity has known.”
Castro, 85, also expressed indignation at the killing of  Gaddafi last week and the subsequent treatment of his body,  which he said was “kidnapped and exhibited like a trophy of  war, a conduct that violates the most elemental principles of  Muslim norms and other religious beliefs.”
His comments were published in Cuban state-run media in one  of the occasional opinion columns he has written since falling  ill five years ago and handing over the presidency to younger  brother Raul Castro in 2008.
The elder Castro has sharply criticized NATO’s intervention  in Libya from the beginning and praised Gaddafi, a Castro  friend, for his resistance.
He also has attacked NATO as an instrument of his longtime  ideological foe, the United States.
His comments today were the first from Cuba since  Gaddafi’s death.
Last month, the Cuba government pulled its diplomats from  the North African country and said it would not recognize the  ruling National Transitional Council or any government  established with the help of foreign intervention.