El Comandante misses big parade

HAVANA - Fidel Castro has failed to attend Cuba's first military parade in a decade, fuelling speculation the ailing leader's long rule may be over.

Some 300,000 flag-waving Cubans marched past Revolution Square hoping El Comandante would make his first public appearance since surgery four months ago.

Some say Castro's absence at the event marking his 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the start of the revolution shows he may be fading into history after 47 years in control.

"It means he will not return to power ... Otherwise he would have made it," said a European diplomat who attended the parade.

- REUTERS