Smiling Fidel Castro seen in public for first time since 2006

Smiling Fidel Castro seen in public for first time since 2006. Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has made his first known public appearance in four years after visiting a scientific facility in Havana.

Photographs taken by his son Alex and posted on a state-run blog showed a smiling, healthy-looking Castro, 83, wearing a Nike tracksuit as he talked with directors of the National Centre of Scientific Investigation.

Castro, who fell ill four years ago and has only been seen rarely in a public forum, was greeted by staff at the centre and enjoyed a joke while being shown around.

Rare appearance: Fidel Castrol looked healthy in pictures taken during a visit to a Cuban scientific centre

The writer of the blog, Rosa C. Baez, wrote that he had made a 'suprise visit' and stopped to greet and 'throw kisses' to a group of people waiting to see him.

The photographs were taken by an unidentified worker at the centre. They said: 'He is thin, but looked good and, according to our director, is very good mentally.'

'They didn't let us get close to him, but when he left, there were too many people standing around and I was standing just three metres from him.'

Castro has been seen only in occasional photographs and videos since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 and ceded power provisionally to his younger brother, Raul Castro.

Rapt: Castro, 83, wearing a white Nike tracksuit, speaks to workers at the centre in his first public appearance in four years

Controlled: The Cuban government strictly limits photographs of the former revolutionary leader, who was forced to cede power to his brother because of ill health

Appearance: Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery in 2006 and his brother Raul has now taken over control of Cuba

Heyday: A young Castro puffs on a cigar during an interview in 1974

His first public appearance in years comes as Cuba is preparing to release 52 political prisoners who were all jailed in an opposition crackdown in 2003 while the former leader was still in power.

It also coincded with the 45th anniversary of the centre's creation in 1965.

Last year, Venezuelan President and close ally Hugo Chaves said Castro had been going for walks near his Havana residence, but they were never confirmed by the government and there were no known photos of him.

Castro, after leading the 1959 revolution that toppled a U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, ruled Cuba for 49 years and dominated Cuban life with many long, televised speeches and public appearances.

He resigned the presidency in February 2008 and Raul Castro, 79, officially took over as president in a vote by the National Assembly.

He has maintained a public presence through opinion columns written for Cuba's state-run media. ( dailymail.co.uk )