Interim president Raul Castro looked well placed to ascend to Cuba's helm indefinitely, after his ailing brother Fidel Castro announced this week that he would formally relinquish power after almost 50 years.

But it was still far from certain that Raul Castro would assume the presidency for good — a decision that will fall within days, at Sunday's National Assembly meeting.

Also in the running for taking over leadership of the communist island are various top officials from Cuba's "younger generation" such as Vice President Carlos Lage (56), and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque (42).

But Raul (76), remains the odds on favourite.

After decades as defence chief, he emerged a year and a half ago from his 81-year-old brother's shadow to temporarily take the helm of the regime.

The younger Castro brother said last month that Cuba's National Assembly would elect the country's next president on 24 February, as speculation began to grow that Fidel Castro might not be its choice for the first time in almost five decades.

The current interim president took over from his elder brother on a "temporary" basis in July 2006 while Fidel Castro recovered from surgery. But Fidel has not been seen in public since his first intestinal operation.

Tough but practical

Analysts describe Raul as tough but practical, quiet and low profile compared to the more charismatic and scholarly Fidel, who is a lawyer by training, famous for a fierce grasp of detail and for stamina allowing him to hold forth for hours on end during public speeches.

As number two in Cuba's Council of State, Raul Castro was constitutionally designated to take over power in case of Fidel's "absence, illness or death".

As minister of defence, he oversees an institution that is primarily designed to defend against a potential US invasion.

From the early days of the Cuban revolution, when he helped organize the insurgency from the rugged mountains of Sierra Maestra, Raul Castro has shaped Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces into a complex institution.

Some Cuba-watchers are not optimistic that Raul Castro can follow in his brother's footsteps for long without the elder Castro's political skills; others argue he has deftly, if quietly, managed the armed forces.

Before the 31 July 2006 announcement of Raul's temporary appointment, Cuba's state-run media sought to build up his public image.

Historical right to continue process

"From the first days of the revolutionary struggle, he has won the historical right to lead the continuation of the process, something that is natural for the Cuban people," Granma, the Communist Party newspaper said.

Raul Castro was born on 3 June 1931, in Biran in the eastern province of Holguin, to a Spanish father, Angel Castro, and a Cuban mother, Lina Ruz.

A student of economics and a member of the Communist Youth Movement, Raul Castro was jailed alongside his brother following their 1953 assault on the Moncada military barracks, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to topple the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

After being freed from jail, the two brothers went together to Mexico to prepare the landing of the boat "Granma", loaded with rebels, on 2 December 1956 in Cuba.

When the revolution triumphed in January 1959, Raul Castro became second-in-command.

While managing the military, he has faced considerable challenges, including the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Following the dissolution of Cuba's main financial backer, Cuba's military has formed a series of money-churning businesses, including a tourism corporation that runs a domestic airline, hotels, retail outlets and marinas.

He also has played an important role in setting domestic and budgetary policies.

Cuban authorities describe him as a disciplined and energetic leader, and a doting grandfather who likes to climb mountains and go camping.

US analysts and Cuban exiles, however, portray him as a brutal hardliner.

A former US Central Intelligence Agency analyst, Brian Latell, who authored the book "After Fidel," calls Raul "a Stalinist," who is "as brutal or more brutal than Fidel Castro."

AFP