4th LD Writethru: Fidel Castro dies at 90, ashes to rest in Santiago de Cuba

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died late Friday at the age of 90, said his brother Raul Castro, the current leader of Cuba.

"With deep sorrow I report to the Cuban people that our beloved leader Fidel Castro passed away at 10:29 p.m.(0329 GMT Saturday) on Friday," said Raul Castro in a statement broadcast on Radio Reloj.

His body will be cremated according to his will. The organizing committee for his funeral will give more details of mourning activities.

The Cuban government later announced that Fidel Castro's ashes will be buried at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, the resting place of independence hero Jose Marti and other leading figures of the island.

In an official statement published by the Communist Party newspaper Granma, the organizing committee of Fidel Castro's funeral said his ashes will be interred there on Dec. 4 after Cubans from all over the island pay their tributes to the leading figure of the Revolution.

In Havana, Cubans will be able to pay homage to Fidel Castro at the Jose Marti memorial on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29. A mass rally will be held in the capital at 7 p.m. (0000 GMT Wednesday) on Nov. 29.

On the following day, Fidel Castro's ashes will begin their journey along the route that commemorates his victory in 1959, added the release.

The journey will conclude Santiago de Cuba on Dec. 3, where there will also be a mass rally. The burial ceremony is secheduled to be held next day at 7 a.m. (1200 GMT).

Also, the Cuban State Council declared nine days of national mourning starting at 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday and ending at noon time on Dec. 4.p During the mourning period, all cultural shows will be suspended, with the flag flying at half-mast in public buildings and military establishments.

Fidel Castro had led Cuba for nearly half a century before stepping down in 2006 for health reasons. He was succeeded by his brother Raul Castro.

Fidel Castro spent the last years of his life largely out of the public eye, writing editorials on world affairs for Cuba's official Granma daily, and receiving dignitaries at his home in Havana.

The last such a meeting was with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang on Nov. 15.

Shocked by his death, Cubans go out to mourn the revolutionary leader with great sorrow on the streets in Havana.

At the renowned Presidents' Avenue in central Havana, David Matinez, 19, said he heard the news from a policeman, who asked him and his friends to turn down the music as a gesture of respect.

"This is shocking news. Although Fidel is 90 years old, it still comes as a surprise to everyone. Fidel has always been a father figure to all Cubans. There would be nothing that we have now without him," said Matinez.

Fidel Castro was born on Aug. 13, 1926 in Biran, a village in Holguin Province, as the son of Spanish immigrant Angel Castro and Cuban farmer Lina Ruz.

He became well-known worldwide after he led the 1959 Cuban Revolution that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Almost immediately, the United States moved to topple Fidel Castro, fearing the socialist revolution would inspire the rest of Latin America.

Washington pressed Cuba on many fronts, including economically and financially, by imposing a trade embargo in February 1962 that continues to this day.

Washington's covert war on Castro is well documented, from Operation Mongoose designed to disrupt life in Cuba in any way possible, to numerous assassination attempts, which even the CIA admits were often "laughably inept."

Fidel Castro once quipped, "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal." Endite