Havana, Cuba: Cuba declared nine days of public mourning Saturday for its late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, and said his ashes will be buried at a ceremony on 4 December in Santiago de Cuba.

From 26 November to 4 December, ‘public activities and shows will cease, the national flag will fly at half mast on public buildings and military installations,’ a statement from the state executive said.

Castro's ashes will be buried in the historic southeastern city of Santiago on 4 December after a four-day procession through the country, it added.

President Raul Castro earlier said that his older brother Fidel was to be cremated on early Saturday.