Herve Stephan, who also heads the investigation into the death of Princess Diana, has been assigned the cases and will probably be given a third that accuses Castro of drug trafficking, the officials said.

On Wednesday, prosecutors threw out the three complaints against Castro, judicial officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But according to French law, an investigating judge still must be appointed to investigate and decide how to proceed in the civil court cases.

Observers say it is highly unlikely that Stephan will proceed with any of the three complaints.

French photographer Pierre Golendorf, who spent 2 1/2 years in a Cuban jail, and Cuban artist Lazaro Jordana, jailed four years for illegally leaving the country, filed two of the complaints last month.

Both men accuse Castro of crimes against humanity, including torture and murder.

The drug-trafficking complaint was filed by Ileana de la Guardia, the exiled daughter of Cuban Col. Antonio de la Guardia, who was convicted and executed in 1989 along with three other officials for allegedly smuggling drugs.

The three brought their cases in French court -- Golendorf because he is a French citizen, Jordana because he is based in the country, and Ileana de la Guardia because she claims the drugs were destined for Europe, and France in particular.

In the drug case, the prosecutor ruled that the complaint did not hold up because Ileana de la Guardia could not show she was hurt by the drug trafficking.

On the other two complaints, the prosecutor ruled that he was not competent to handle the matter because in France the notion of ``crimes against humanity'' is reserved only for World War II crimes as defined by the Nuremberg Tribunal, the officials said.