Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa described the Cuban leader who passed away on Friday (November25, 2016) as "Friend" and said on his own Twitter account after the announcement of Castro's death "the world will miss you oh, president, friend and leader who embodied the pride of Cuban people."

Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and for five decades defied U.S. efforts to topple him, died on Friday. He was 90.

Castro had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, two years later.

Wearing a green military uniform, a somber Raul, 85, appeared on state television on Friday night to announce Fidel's death, 60 years to the day since the two brothers and dozens of supporters left Mexico on a boat to take revolution to Cuba.

"At 10:29 at night, the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died," he said, without giving a cause of death.

"Ever onward, to victory," he said, using the slogan of the Cuban revolution.

Castro's corpse will be burnt, according to his will.

Fidel Castro led the revolution that ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959. Aged 32, he quickly took control of Cuba and sought to transform it into an egalitarian society.

At home, he swept away capitalism and won support for bringing schools and hospitals to the poor. But he also created legions of enemies and critics, concentrated among the exiles in Miami who saw him as a ruthless tyrant.

He did not meet Barack Obama when he visited Havana earlier this year, the first time an American president had stepped foot on Cuban soil since 1928.

Fidel Castro no longer held leadership posts in his final years. He wrote newspaper commentaries on world affairs and occasionally met foreign leaders, but lived in semi-seclusion.

Castro's death - which would once have thrown a major question mark over Cuba's future - seems unlikely to trigger a crisis as Raul Castro is firmly ensconced in power.

Arabic Version