Cuba to name Fidel Castro successor

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's rubber-stamp National Assembly will meet on Sunday to name retiring Cuban leader Fidel Castro's successor, and few people are placing bets on anyone other than his brother Raul Castro.

The younger Castro has provisionally held power since his brother fell ill in July 2006 and the stage is set for him to be formally confirmed as head of state.

Raul Castro, at 76 the world's longest serving defence minister, is the obvious pick for a government that feels threatened by the Bush administration at the vulnerable moment of losing the charismatic leadership of its founder Fidel Castro, debilitated by illness, after 49 years at the helm.

"National defence and internal stability are the watchwords right now," a member of the ruling Communist Party said, requesting anonymity.

"More than anything, Raul signifies stability and continuity at a time of great anxiety and uncertainty," said Frank Mora, an expert on Cuba at the National War College in Washington.

Castro, who turned Cuba into a Soviet ally during the Cold War after seizing power in an armed revolution in 1959, has not appeared in public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to delegate power almost 19 months ago.

The 81-year-old revolutionary icon announced his retirement as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces on Tuesday, saying he was too ill to continue. He will retain veto power as first secretary of the Communist Party.

The National Assembly's 614 legislative deputies, elected last month, will convene on Sunday morning to approve a list of the 31 members of the Council of State, Cuba's top executive body headed by the president or head of state, a first vice president and five more second-tier vice presidents.