Cuban leader Fidel Castro branded international military action in Libya a "fascist war" on Tuesday, and urged strongman Muammar Qadhafi to fight back to "his last breath." "If Qadhafi honours his people's traditions and decides to fight to the last breath as promised with the Libyans who are facing the worst ever bombing a country has ever suffered, it will spell a mire of shame to Nato and its criminal projects," Castro wrote in an article published in Cuban media.
The 84-year-old retired communist leader, who has visited Libya and met with Qadhafi several times, said he was speaking "freely" because he does not share the Libyan ruler's "political views or religious character." In his article titled "Nato's Fascist War," Castro - a US foe long in Washington's crosshairs - compared the Libyan bombing campaign to raids conducted by Nazi pilots against Spain in 1936.