Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country as president, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized the power.

The 81-year-old Castro, who has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959, said he would not accept another term as president due to health problems, BBC reported.

"I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief," the Cuban leader wrote in the letter published by the official Communist Party paper Granma.

Castro handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery and in December he hinted he could step down in favour of a younger generation.

The National Assembly is scheduled to meet on Sunday to elect a successor with Raul Castro, 76, widely expected to be the next Cuban leader.

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