Havana: Fidel Castro, Cuba`s socialist icon and father of his country`s revolution, died late Friday in Havana aged 90.
Making an announcement on national television in shaky voice, the Cuban revolutionary icon's brother, President Raul Castro, said: "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening."
Raul Castro, who took power after his older brother Fidel was hospitalized in 2006, said that the revolutionary leader`s remains will be cremated early on Saturday.
"In compliance with Comrade Fidel`s expressed will, his remains will be cremated early in the morning" on Saturday, said Raul Castro.
"The funeral organizing commission will provide detailed information to the people on the holding of a posthumous homage that will be paid to the founder of the Cuban Revolution."
Raul ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: "Towards victory, always!"
The Cuban President made the announcement just after midnight Friday (0500 GMT Saturday).
Later, Cuba declared nine days of public mourning on Saturday for Fidel Castro, and said his ashes will be buried at a ceremony on December 4 in Santiago de Cuba.
One of the world`s longest-serving rulers and modern history`s most singular characters, he defied 11 US administrations and numerous assassination attempts.
During half a century in power, Fidel Castro crushed opposition at home to lead the communist Caribbean island through the Cold War before stepping aside in 2006 after intestinal surgery.
For defenders of the revolution, he was a hero who defended the ordinary people against domination.
For his opponents, including thousands of Cubans resident in the United States, he was a cruel tyrant.
He eventually lived to see the historic restoration of diplomatic ties with Washington last year.
In Cuba, news was just getting around.
Also Read: Timeline of Fidel Castro's life
The bearded, cigar-puffing leader, renowned for trademark army fatigues and hours-long public tirades, grabbed power in a January 1, 1959 revolution.
Living by the slogan "socialism or death," he kept the faith to the end, even as the Cold War came and went.
He endured hundreds of assassination attempts, according to his aides, and the disastrous US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in 1961.
Castro was at the center of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, as the world stood on the brink of nuclear war until the Soviet Union blinked in its bid to station strategic missiles on Cuban soil.
Well into his old age, Castro unleashed furious diatribes against Washington until he was slowed by surgery in July 2006.
An energetic symbol of defiance for developing countries and a driving force behind the Non-Aligned Movement, Castro proved even a small sovereign nation could thumb its nose at the world`s biggest superpower.
He was last seen in public on his 90th birthday on August 13.
"Soon I will end up like everyone does," he said. "We all have our turn."
(With Agency inputs)
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