Updated

Fidel Castro has criticized the United States for the manner in which its forces killed al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden, saying it executed him in front of his family.

Castro says in an opinion piece published Thursday in Cuban media that the raid inside Pakistan by a team of U.S. Navy Seals also violated that country's laws and offended its dignity.

The former Cuban leader says he abhors all forms of terrorism. He notes that he expressed solidarity with the United States despite decades of political differences following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But the 84-year-old revolutionary says the decision to kill bin Laden and bury him at sea "has turned him into a much more dangerous man."