Cuban President Castro stands down

President Bush has said Cuban President Fidel Castro's retirement should lead to democracy in the Communist state.

The 81-year-old, who has suffered declining health for the past two years, said he would not "aspire or accept" another term of office after 49 years in power when the National Assembly meets on February 24.

Mr Castro has ruled Cuba since he swept to power in an armed revolution in 1959 but temporarily ceded his powers to his brother Raul Castro on July 31, 2006, when he announced that he had undergone intestinal surgery. His brother and designated successor is expected to replace him.

In a statement published on the website of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper he said: "To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honour in recent days of electing me a member of parliament, I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept - I repeat not aspire to or accept - the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief."

President Bush said: "The question really should be what does this mean for the people of Cuba.

"They are the ones who suffered under Fidel Castro. They are the ones who are put in prison because of their beliefs. They are the ones who have been denied to a free society so I view this as a period of transition, that it should be the beginning of democratic transition."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spokesman said: "Our position on Cuba is a long-standing one, which is that we have always sought to encourage a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba, as well as a greater respect for human rights and the unconditional release of all political prisoners."

Mr Castro's retirement draws the curtain on an extraordinary political career in which he survived hundreds of assassination attempts as well as the US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs and a stand-off with Washington over Soviet missiles that pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war and the end of the Cold War.

In 1999, Cuba claimed the US had tried to assassinate Mr Castro no fewer than 637 times and Mr Castro once said: "If surviving assassination were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."

Perhaps the most well-known scheme was the exploding cigar the CIA is said to have designed to detonate as the tobacco-loving leader began to puff on it.

A charismatic leader famous for his long speeches delivered in his green military fatigues, Mr Castro is admired in the Third World for standing up to the US but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.

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