Zimbabwe’s military takes over country, says President Mugabe is ‘safe’ - The Washington Post

Zimbabwe’s military takes over country, says President Mugabe is ‘safe’ - The Washington Post

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s military took control of the country early Wednesday and detained its longtime leader, President Robert Mugabe, capping a political showdown over Mugabe’s apparent attempts to install his wife as his successor.

In a televised announcement after armored vehicles and troops rolled into the capital, Harare, a general insisted that it was “not a military takeover.”

Despite the assurances, the events bore all the hallmarks of a coup. Military vehicles were stationed around parts of the city, the army took over the television station and a uniformed general issued a statement warning that “criminals” in Mugabe’s regime were being targeted.

Army Gen. Constantino Chiwenga made the move as a struggle over who will succeed the country’s increasingly frail 93-year-old leader came to a head. Mugabe has ruled since he led the country to independence from white-minority rule in 1980.

Mugabe is one of the oldest and longest-ruling leaders to come out of Africa’s struggle against co­lo­ni­al­ism and the emergence of new nations across the continent. His rule, however, has also become increasingly erratic, and he is blamed by many for devastating the once-prosperous former British colony.