HAVANA, Sept 11: Cuba opened a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit on Monday with veiled attacks on the United States and Israel, and a defence of Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

The summit ‘happens to coincide with the tightening of pressures against Iran for the exercise of its sovereign right to develop a program for the peaceful use of nuclear energy’, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roué said in his opening speech.

He urged the NAM members to close ranks in the face of threats he said ‘have a common origin’ — a veiled reference to the United States.

The six-day gathering brings together leaders from about 50 developing nations, and high-level representatives from dozens more, including some of the most outspoken foes of the United States, such as Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Syria.

Among the prominent leaders slated to attend is Iranian President Mahout Ahmadinejad, who has defied UN demands that he halt uranium enrichment — the process used to make nuclear reactor fuel but also atomic bomb material.

The NAM backed Iran in the standoff, with a draft of the summit’s final document stressing the right of developing nations to use and produce nuclear energy.

At the same time, the document condemned Israel ‘for continuing to develop and stockpile nuclear arsenals’.

Cuba and several other NAM members have stressed the need to give new impetus and focus to the movement created during the Cold War to counter the hegemonic influence of the superpowers. Now, they say, they must work against overwhelming US might.

As the gathering began, it still remained unclear if Fidel Castro would be well enough to show up as scheduled for the summit, but he has said he would be meeting some of the visiting dignitaries.

The gathering should mark the international debut by Raul Castro, 75, who is officially in charge of Cuba until his more prominent brother is well enough to get back to work full time.

It will also form the backdrop for rival lobbying from Venezuela and Guatemala for one of the 10 temporary seats on the 15-member UN Security Council.

Venezuela’s staunchly anti-US president, Hugo Chavez, recently conducted a 10-day tour of Asia and Africa that earned the oil-rich South American country support for its UN bid as well as trade deals.

Many of the leaders at the summit will also attend the UN General Assembly, which starts on Tuesday.

The heads of state were slated to start their talks on Friday, after four days of preparatory meetings. On Monday, Haiti and St Kitts and Nevis joined the movement. —AFP