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Castro to Host Dinner for Leaders at Non-Aligned Summit


An updated schedule for this week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement says Cuban President Fidel Castro will host a dinner for visiting leaders on Friday.

Mr. Castro has not attended any public events since July. He is recovering from intestinal surgery that caused him to temporarily transfer power to his younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro.

The non-aligned meeting opens in Havana Monday with lower level officials. Heads of state and government from around the world confer later in the week.

The leaders expected include Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has ignored the United Nations' demands to stop enriching uranium. He is expected to lobby summit participants to support Iran's nuclear program.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are to meet on the sidelines of the summit in a bid to restart peace talks between their rival countries.

The Non-Aligned Movement has 116 members in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

The grouping was formed more than four decades ago with the aim of avoiding alignment with the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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