MUGABE REFUSES TO QUIT ‘stalemate’ as mediation effort fails

ROBERT Mugabe was trying to cling to power last night after refusing to quit as president of Zimbabwe.

A Catholic priest was even brought in to try to negotiate a deal for the 93-yearold tyrant to step down.

But one political source, who spoke to senior allies holed up with Mugabe at his compound in the capital Harare, said he had no plans to go.

He added: “It’s a stand-off, a stalemate. They are insisting the president must finish his term.”

Photos last night showed Mugabe with Commander General Constantino Chiwenga, Father Fidelis Mukonori and South African envoys at State House.

Mukonori is mediating between Mugabe and the generals – who seized power in what they have called a targeted operation against “criminals” – but made little progress.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has flown back to the country and called for the leader’s departure “in the interest of the people”. In a statement, Tsvangirai pointedly referred to the tyrant as “Mr” Robert Mugabe, not President.

The army wants Mugabe, in power since 1980, to go quietly for a smooth and bloodless transition to Emmerson “The Crocodile” Mnangagwa.

Mugabe sacked Mnangagwa, 75, last week as he wanted wife Grace, 52, to succeed him. That proved the catalyst for the army putting the leader under house arrest.

Despite some lingering admiration for Mugabe, there is little public affection in the country for Grace – dubbed “Disgrace” or “Gucci Grace” for her love of shopping.

A former typist, she started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his first wife Sally was dying of kidney disease.

Grace has had a meteoric rise through the ranks of Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-pf over the past two years.

Meanwhile, in Harare yesterday the situation remained calm, with people going about their daily business – albeit under the watch of soldiers on armoured vehicles.

It’s a standoff. They insist the president must finish his term SOURCE

IN TYRANT’S HARARE COMPOUND