Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, nabbed and in house arrest as Coup takes a twist (PHOTOS)
The nation's army confirmed the 93-year-old dictator was being detained under house arrest but insisted he was "safe". Hugely unpopular Grace Mugabe was also "being held by the military" in Harare.
It was earlier reported that she had fled to Namibia, but officials confirmed she is still in Zimbabwe and AFP reported she is in "military custody" along with other Mugabe supporters.
Until this week, ruthless Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe like a medieval king - rewarding his favourites but punishing those he saw as a threat.
One of those who fell foul of the despot was former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa - the man tipped to take over from Mugabe ahead of his wife.
Mnangagwa has been embroiled in a long-running feud with Mrs Mugabe, 52, that included a bizarre alleged ice cream poisoning incident that laid bare the pair's rivalry.
Both were seen as leading contenders to replace Mugabe when he died or retired, but Mnangagwa had the support of the armed forces which viewed Grace with derision.
It was for that reasons he was stripped from office last week -sparking his allies in the military to take action.
Elections are due to be held next year but may now be brought forward.
One high-profile opposition leader said there was now “a lot of talking going on”, with the army “reaching out to different factions to discuss the formation of a transitional government ”.
Negotiations had been going on for several months with “certain people within the army”, a second senior opposition official told The Guardian.
The official said Mugabe would resign this week and be replaced by Mnangagwa, with opposition leaders becoming vice president and prime minister.
There was no independent confirmation of his claim.
Soldiers had earlier seized the country's state TV station amid explosions and gunfire after tanks rolled into capital Harare.
Brits were immediately warned by the Foreign Office to stay indoors while Americans were told to "take cover and seek shelter" in the southern African nation.
Exiled Mnangagwa - nicknamed The Crocodile - has been installed as leader after being flown back into the country, a Twitter account claiming to be run by plotters said.
The account, with 55,000 followers, has in the past been accused of being a parody account.
It said: "Zimbabwe was not owned by Mugabe or his wife" - a reference to Grace Mugabe, who the statement accuses of "taking advantage" of the elderly despot.
She was widely accused of running the country for infirm Mugabe and feared to be plotting a power grab when he died.
In a sign her allies were coming under pressure, the head of the ruling party's youth wing, Kudzanai Chipanga, appeared on state TV on Wednesday evening to apologise for comments he had made criticising the army a day earlier.
He said he was speaking voluntarily.
Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson has warned against handing power "from one unelected tyrant to the next".
The army finally stepped in yesterday after Mugabe fired popular number two Mnangagwa, his probable successor, last week.
The alleged Zanu-PF account added: "Last night the first family was detained and are safe, both for the constitution and the sanity of the nation this was necessary.
"Today begins a fresh new era and comrade Mnangagwa will help us achieve a better Zimbabwe."
Leading commentator on Zimbabwean politics Chris Mutsvangwa said: “This is a correction of a state that was careering off the cliff.
“It’s the end of a very painful and sad chapter in the history of a young nation, in which a dictator, as he became old, surrendered his court to a gang of thieves around his wife.”
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist. On winning power after British rule, he moved swiftly to extinguish political opposition. He ordered a violent crackdown that led to a string of massacres in opposition strongholds. The country's Fifth Brigade is believed to have killed up to 20,000 people, mostly supporters of Mugabe's main political rival.
But his hardline policies pushed the country into poverty. Its flourishing economy began to disintegrate after a program of land seizures from white farmers, and agricultural output plummeted and inflation soared.
Accused of rigging elections and quashing any sign of political opposition, Mugabe remains the only leader many Zimbabweans have ever known. He once infamously claimed that "only God" could remove him from office.
He faced criticism for throwing a lavish birthday party last year in a region hit by food shortages and drought. But until this week he had succeeded in holding off all challenges to his leadership.
In the House of Commons, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described Mugabe as a power-hungry despot who would not be missed.
"This House will remember the brutal litany of his 37 years in office: The elections he rigged and stole, the murder and torture of his opponents, the illegal seizure of land -- leading to the worst hyperinflation in recorded history measured in the billions of percentage points -- and forcing the abolition of the Zimbabwean dollar," Johnson said.
Who is Emmerson 'The Crocodile' Mnangagwa?
So fearsome is the reputation of Emmerson Mnangagwa, that even despot Robert Mugabe has been forced to condemn his crimes in the past.The towering former vice-president now finds himself as the man mooted to replace Mugabe following a military coup in Zimbabwe overnight.The brutal efficiency of his move mimics the cut-throat tactics of old - when he and a band of guerillas would attack white farmers with knives.Violence against the white Rhodesian government - that would later be renamed Zimbabwe - earned him the nickname The Crocodile... and a spell in prison.And it was during those years behind bars that the 75-year-old met Mugabe and would ride on his coat tails when he became prime minister in 1980.Named his security chief, University of London-educated Mnangagwa led a band of North Korean-trained special forces who carried out unimagineable acts of cruelty against tribes in the western Matebeleland regions of Zimbabwe.Even Mugabe admitted the 20,000 deaths his protege's forces caused were unacceptable.But it did not stop Mnangagwa rising up the ranks to become justice minister, defence minister and eventually, in 2013, vice president.The Crocodile clashed with Mugabe's wife Grace to such an extent that the 93-year-old president forced him out of office earlier this month.His army-backed move back into the fray today is now accepted to be a bid to oust his old mentor and seize power for himself.
She was widely accused of running the country for infirm Mugabe and feared to be plotting a power grab when he died.
In a sign her allies were coming under pressure, the head of the ruling party's youth wing, Kudzanai Chipanga, appeared on state TV on Wednesday evening to apologise for comments he had made criticising the army a day earlier.
He said he was speaking voluntarily.
Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson has warned against handing power "from one unelected tyrant to the next".
The army finally stepped in yesterday after Mugabe fired popular number two Mnangagwa, his probable successor, last week.
The alleged Zanu-PF account added: "Last night the first family was detained and are safe, both for the constitution and the sanity of the nation this was necessary.
"Today begins a fresh new era and comrade Mnangagwa will help us achieve a better Zimbabwe."
Leading commentator on Zimbabwean politics Chris Mutsvangwa said: “This is a correction of a state that was careering off the cliff.
“It’s the end of a very painful and sad chapter in the history of a young nation, in which a dictator, as he became old, surrendered his court to a gang of thieves around his wife.”
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist. On winning power after British rule, he moved swiftly to extinguish political opposition. He ordered a violent crackdown that led to a string of massacres in opposition strongholds. The country's Fifth Brigade is believed to have killed up to 20,000 people, mostly supporters of Mugabe's main political rival.
But his hardline policies pushed the country into poverty. Its flourishing economy began to disintegrate after a program of land seizures from white farmers, and agricultural output plummeted and inflation soared.
Accused of rigging elections and quashing any sign of political opposition, Mugabe remains the only leader many Zimbabweans have ever known. He once infamously claimed that "only God" could remove him from office.
He faced criticism for throwing a lavish birthday party last year in a region hit by food shortages and drought. But until this week he had succeeded in holding off all challenges to his leadership.
In the House of Commons, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson described Mugabe as a power-hungry despot who would not be missed.
"This House will remember the brutal litany of his 37 years in office: The elections he rigged and stole, the murder and torture of his opponents, the illegal seizure of land -- leading to the worst hyperinflation in recorded history measured in the billions of percentage points -- and forcing the abolition of the Zimbabwean dollar," Johnson said.
Who is Emmerson 'The Crocodile' Mnangagwa?
So fearsome is the reputation of Emmerson Mnangagwa, that even despot Robert Mugabe has been forced to condemn his crimes in the past.The towering former vice-president now finds himself as the man mooted to replace Mugabe following a military coup in Zimbabwe overnight.The brutal efficiency of his move mimics the cut-throat tactics of old - when he and a band of guerillas would attack white farmers with knives.Violence against the white Rhodesian government - that would later be renamed Zimbabwe - earned him the nickname The Crocodile... and a spell in prison.And it was during those years behind bars that the 75-year-old met Mugabe and would ride on his coat tails when he became prime minister in 1980.Named his security chief, University of London-educated Mnangagwa led a band of North Korean-trained special forces who carried out unimagineable acts of cruelty against tribes in the western Matebeleland regions of Zimbabwe.Even Mugabe admitted the 20,000 deaths his protege's forces caused were unacceptable.But it did not stop Mnangagwa rising up the ranks to become justice minister, defence minister and eventually, in 2013, vice president.The Crocodile clashed with Mugabe's wife Grace to such an extent that the 93-year-old president forced him out of office earlier this month.His army-backed move back into the fray today is now accepted to be a bid to oust his old mentor and seize power for himself.
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