Fidel Castro in new photos released in Chile

SANTIAGO, (AFP)

Ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is pictured standing, decked out in a white Adidas track suit, in new photos released Friday after he met in Cuba with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The Chilean government released the pictures after a meeting in Havana Thursday between Castro, 82 and still the head of the Cuban Communist Party, and Bachelet.In them, Castro is shown standing next to Bachelet but not smiling, wearing a track suit with dark trim. He was last photographed publicly in January during a visit with Argentine President Cristina Kirchner.

Bachelet, whose visit to Cuba continues Friday, said Castro was in "very good condition" following their 90-minute meeting.

"I have met with Fidel Castro, he is in very good condition, we had a long conversation for an hour and a half," Bachelet told reporters in Havana.Her three-day visit to Cuba is the first by a Chilean leader in more than three decades.

Bachelet - a doctor by training - said that Castro was "very active" and was lucid. "He knew all the most important details" about a range of topics she said.

"He was very interested in topics concerning Chile, analyzing information, statistics and interested in hearing about areas in which we have had success," she added.Castro ceded power to his brother Raul in July 2006 during a health crisis. Raul Castro, 77, became Cuba's president officially a year ago.Fidel Castro has not appeared in public for the past two and a half years following major digestive or intestinal surgery.