Mugabe resisting army pressure to quit – senior source

President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only
legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday, and is
resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old
former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup.

The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between
Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in a
targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, a senior
political source told Reuters.

The source could not provide details of the talks, which appear
to be aimed at a smooth and bloodless transition after the
departure of Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in
1980.

Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that
former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as
vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe
vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.

uelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action,
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer
treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on
Wednesday, his spokesman said.

South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by
telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was
otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his
family, including wife Grace, safe.

Despite the lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little
public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist
who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his
first wife, Sally, was dying of cancer.

Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed
love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of
Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in
Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago – a move seen as clearing the way
for her to succeed her husband.

In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed
doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going
about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on
armoured vehicles at strategic locations.

Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a
once-in-a-generation change for the former British colony, a
regional breadbasket reduced to destitution by economic policies
Mugabe’s critics have long blamed on him.

– Reuters

President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only
legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday, and is
resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old
former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup.

The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between
Mugabe and the generals, who seized power on Wednesday in a
targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, a senior
political source told Reuters.

The source could not provide details of the talks, which appear
to be aimed at a smooth and bloodless transition after the
departure of Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in
1980.

Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest that
former security chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was ousted as
vice-president this month, has been mapping out a post-Mugabe
vision with the military and opposition for more than a year.

uelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action,
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer
treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on
Wednesday, his spokesman said.

South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by
telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was
otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his
family, including wife Grace, safe.

Despite the lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little
public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist
who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his
first wife, Sally, was dying of cancer.

Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed
love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of
Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF in the last two years, culminating in
Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago – a move seen as clearing the way
for her to succeed her husband.

In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed
doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going
about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on
armoured vehicles at strategic locations.

Whatever the final outcome, the events could signal a
once-in-a-generation change for the former British colony, a
regional breadbasket reduced to destitution by economic policies
Mugabe’s critics have long blamed on him.

– Reuters