Castro blames Khrushchev over missile crisis

Cuba’s President Fidel Castro has said on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis that Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev helped create the conflict by misleading US president John F Kennedy – indicating that there were no nuclear weapons on the communist island.

Castro’s comments, which came in an interview with ABC’s ”20/20” programme, coincided with a conference in Havana bringing together Cubans and Americans who played roles during the real life Cold War drama. ABC, which will broadcast the interview tomorrow, made the transcript public yesterday.