Syrian Envoy Meets with Senior Cuban Official

A special envoy of Syrian President Bashar Assad met in Havana with Miguel Diaz-Canel, the number two man in government, Cuban state media said.

Diaz-Canel and the envoy, identified as Monhsen Bilal, exchanged thoughts about the Syrian conflict, according to a communique read late Wednesday on state TV news.

Bilal sent warm greetings from Assad to "the leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, and to army general Raul Castro," the current president, the statement read.

Diaz-Canel -- the 53 year-old in line to take over Cuba's leadership once the aged Castros are gone -- "reaffirmed the right of the Syrian people to the full exercise of self-determination and sovereignty without foreign interference or intervention of any type," the statement read.

Cuban deputy foreign minister Rogelio Sierra also met with Bilal, according to the statement.

There were no further details on what the men discussed.

Cuba's communist regime has long expressed its support for the Assad regime, as it did earlier for the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

In October, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez lashed out at U.S. "military aggression" in Syria in a speech to the United Nations. In the speech Rodriguez accused Western governments of seeking to topple the Syrian government.

The opponents of both regimes earlier joined forces: the opposition Syrian National Council signed a partnership deal in May 2012 with Miami-based opponents of Cuba's communist regime.