Castro
accuses US of 9/11 conspiracy
HAVANA, 12 (AFP) - An article attributed
to Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday
accused the US government of deceiving the
world about the September 11 terror attacks
in the United States.
The article, written on the sixth anniversary
of the attacks, claimed that the Pentagon
was hit not by an airplane but by a missile,
and says that data on the World Trade Center
destruction does not add up.
"We know that there was deliberate
misinformation," said Castro, 81, in
a lengthy article titled "The Empire
and Lies." The Cuban leader routinely
refers to the United States as "the
empire."
"What is most dramatic is the affirmation
that the truth about what happened may never
be known," he said.
Castro has not been seen in public since
undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006.
He has appeared in photographs and eight
videos, the last of which aired on June
5.
This is the 44th opinion articles attributed
to Castro that has appeared in the government-run
newspapers.
The way the passenger jets crashed into
the Twin Towers in New York on September
11 and the data from the plane's black boxes
"do not correspond with the criteria
of mathematicians, seismologists, and information
and demolition specialists," Castro
said.
Castro does not believe that an airplane
crashed into the Pentagon, nor does he believe
that any airplane passengers died. "Only
a projectile could have created the geometrically
round orifice created by the alleged airplane,"
he said.
"We were deceived as well as the rest
of the planet's inhabitants," he said.
Castro said that Cuba offered to donate
blood after the tragedy, and that Cuban
security services had earlier warned US
officials of planned strikes, including
information on a planned attempt on then-president
Ronald Reagan's life.
In turn, the US government has developed
hundreds of plots to kill him, Castro said
in the article.
After his intestinal operation Castro handed
power over temporarily to his younger brother
Raul, 76, the commander of Cuba's armed
forces.
Cuban officials say that they treat news
on Castro's health as a state secret.
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