The priest who has been Mugabe’s friend for more than 40 years

At the centre of talks to ease Robert Mugabe’s grip on power is the president’s own personal chaplain.

Father Fidelis Mukonori, a Jesuit priest from the outspoken Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, has been close to Mr Mugabe from the time of the war against Ian Smith’s regime.

He roamed the country as a priest during the conflict and fed information back to the guerrilla commander. He later became Mr Mugabe’s international representative.

Questions remain of how Father Mukonori squares his religious beliefs with the brutal regime.

When his own commission condemned the massacres of an estimated 20,000 civilians in the late 1980s he dismissed the organisation as “sanctimonious prelates”.

Father Mukonori has, however, been critical of Mr Mugabe and his policies. He was quoted in 2007 in US cables published by Wikileaks as saying Zimbabwe needed new leadership. “Fidelis regards himself as a conciliator and bridge builder,” the cable says.

“We don’t know whether Mugabe asks for advice or whether Fidelis gives it.”