Zimbabwe military takes over, Prez put under house arrest Indian citizens are safe: Ambassador
‘MUGABE SAFE’ Generals deny staging a coup, say normalcy to return soon HARARE:
Zimbabwe’s military took control of the country on Wednesday as President Robert Mugabe said he was under house arrest, although generals denied staging a coup.
Mugabe’s decades-long grip on power appeared to be fading as military vehicles blocked roads outside the parliament in Harare and senior soldiers delivered a late-night television address to the nation.
“The president... and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed,” Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo said.
“We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes... As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.
“This is not a military takeover of government.”
But the generals’ actions posed a major challenge to the 93-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma, one of Mugabe’s closest allies, said he had spoken to the veteran leader by telephone.
Mugabe “indicated that he was confined to his home but said that he was fine,” the South African government said.
Tensions between Mugabe and the military establishment, which has long helped prop up his authoritarian rule, erupted in public over recent weeks.
The ruling ZANU-PF party on Tuesday accused army chief Gen Constantino Chiwenga of “treasonable conduct” after he criticised Mugabe for sacking vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The dismissal left Mugabe’s wife Grace, 52, in prime position to succeed her husband as the next president -- a succession strongly opposed by senior ranks in the military.
As the situation deteriorated overnight, prolonged gunfire was heard near Mugabe’s private residence.
South Africa urged Zimbabwe to resist any “unconstitutional changes” of government, and said it was sending envoys to Harare on behalf of the SADC bloc of southern African nations to help resolve the impasse.
Mugabe is the world’s oldest head of state, but his poor health has fuelled a bitter succession battle as potential replacements jockey for position. His lengthy rule has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration, vote-rigging and economic collapse since land reforms in 2000.
Speculation has been rife in Harare that Mugabe had sought to remove army chief Chiwenga, who is seen as an ally of ousted Mnangagwa.
The 400-odd Indian expatriates in Zimbabwe are safe after the army seized control on Wednesday in a drive against “criminals” around President Robert Mugabe.
“Everyone is safe and in general, the situation is calm,” India’s ambassador to Harare, R Masakui, told HT over phone.
Masakui said Zimbabwe is home to some 400 Indian expatriates, most of them concentrated in the capital, and another 9,000 people of Indian-origin.
“They are all safe. If you watch the images on television, the city is calm and offices are open. Businesses are open and people are going about with their lives. I’m sitting in the office,” he said.
The Indian expatriate community mostly comprises professionals in computer software, accountancy and banking. Masakui said a few were also working in mining projects.
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