Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe vows to stay on despite party pressure

Zimbabwe's embattled leader Robert Mugabe has vowed to stay in power for several weeks, despite mounting calls for him to stand down now.

In a live TV address, Mr Mugabe said he would preside over the ruling party's congress in December.

Zanu-PF earlier sacked him as party leader, and gave him less than 24 hours to resign as president or be impeached.

His grip on power has weakened since the military intervened on Wednesday, in a row over who should succeed him.

The crisis began when the 93-year-old president sacked his deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, two weeks ago, angering army commanders who saw it as an attempt to position his wife as his successor.

Mugabe defies expectations

Crowds had gathered in Harare to watch the speech, with Mr Mugabe widely expected to resign.

Instead though, flanked by military generals, he said "the (ruling Zanu-PF) party congress is due in a few weeks and I will preside over its processes".

President Mugabe acknowledged criticism from Zanu-PF, the military and public, and stressed the need to return Zimbabwe to normality.

"Whatever the pros and cons of how they (the army) went about their operation, I, as commander-in-chief, do acknowledge their concerns," he said, in reference to the army's move last week to take over the state broadcaster.

The BBC's Africa Editor, Fergal Keane, said his understanding of the situation was that Mr Mugabe had agreed to resign, but then changed his mind.

(BBC)