’This is not a coup’

Mugabe in custody but still president, army supporters insist

ZIMBABWE’S military has placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest in an apparent coup that has brought his brutal 37-year rule to an end.

Mr Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa’s richest states.

He plunged Zimbabwe into a fresh political crisis last week by firing vice-president and presumed successor Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The generals believed that move was aimed at clearing a path for his wife Grace Mugabe to take over and announced on Monday they were prepared to “step in” if purges did not end. Two days later they followed through with their threat.

Analysts said the move appeared to be the climax of a power struggle between liberation-era figures loyal to Mr Mnangagwa and forces faithful to Mrs Mugabe, who is seen as vying to succeed her 93year-old husband.

While the military insisted it was not a coup, reports out of the country suggest the events have all the hallmarks of exactly that.

The army said it had Mr and Mrs Mugabe in custody and was securing government offices and patrolling the capital.

Military supporters praised the move as a “bloodless correction”, insisting Mr Mugabe was still the president. In an address to the nation after taking control of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, an army spokesman said the military was targeting “criminals” around Mr Mugabe.

“Their (the Mugabes’) security is guaranteed,” the army spokesman said. “We wish to make it abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover.”