A funeral service for the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro is getting under way in the city of Santiago.
His ashes are being laid to rest in a cemetery nine days after his death at the age of 90.Tens of thousands of people attended a rally on Saturday led by his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro.
In it, he announced that Cuba would ban naming any monuments or roads after Fidel Castro, at the request of the late leader.
"The leader of the revolution strongly opposed any manifestation of cult of personality," said Raul Castro.
In a family ceremony, Fidel Castro's ashes are being interred next to those of the 19th Century Cuban independence hero, Jose Marti.
The Santa Ifigenia cemetery is in Santiago, known as the birthplace of the Cuban Revolution.
The funeral brings an end to nine days of national mourning across Cuba
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Fidel Castro was part of the small group of revolutionaries who launched an attack on a barracks in Santiago on 26 July 1953.
The attacked failed, but it was considered the first act of the revolution that would depose the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on 1 January 1959.
Opinion on Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, remains divided.
Supporters say he returned Cuba to the people and praise him for some of his social programmes, such as public health and education.
But critics call him a dictator, who led a government that did not tolerate opposition and dissent.
Raul Castro took over when his brother's health deteriorated in 2006.
source bbc.uk
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