Fidel retires - video lookback

Feb. 19 - The Cuban leader Fidel Castro - who's been troubled with ill health - has announced on the Web that he will not return to the presidency.

Castro's statement was published on the website of the Communist Party's Granma newspaper.

His 49 years as head of state of Cuba were marked by many memorable video images, from the armed revolution where he seized power in 1959, to his latter days where he was often seen with the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

The 81-year-old handed over power temporarily to his brother Raul in 2006 after undergoing intestinal surgery.