THE TELEGRAPH: Cuba's Fidel Castro is the latest world leader to opine on the controversial award of the Nobel peace prize to President Barack Obama.
But the endorsement of the veteran communist revolutionary may be the last thing Mr Obama wanted, as his words will only strengthen conservative complaints that the prize was an anti-American gesture.
The former dictator, who handed power to his brother Raul last year after falling seriously ill, made clear that he believed the award was primarily a repudiation of Mr Obama's predecessors.
"Many believe that he still has not earned the right to receive such a distinction," he wrote in a column published in state media. "But we would like to see, more than a prize for the US president, a criticism of the genocidal policies that have been followed by more than a few presidents of that country."
Mr Castro, 83, who has spent half a century railing at international bodies, said he had often disagreed with the choice of Norway's Nobel judges.
But this time, he noted modestly, "I must admit that in this case, in my opinion, it was a positive step". >>> Philip Sherwell in New York and Leonard Doyle in Washington | Saturday, October 10, 2009
