From VP sacking to Mugabe house arrest

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November 15, 2017 6:36 PM

Mugabe fires Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a rival of Mugabe's wife Grace, 52, to succeed the veteran 93-year-old leader in power...

Here is a timeline of the recent crisis in Zimbabwe, which has seen the military take control of the country with President Robert Mugabe saying he is under house arrest.

Vice president sacked

November 6: Mugabe fires Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a rival of Mugabe's wife Grace, 52, to succeed the veteran 93-year-old leader in power.

The government-owned Chronicle newspaper later accuses Mnangagwa and his supporters of being "prepared to stampede President Mugabe from power."

Ex-VP defiant

November 8: Mnangagwa says he has fled the country -- to South Africa, according to members of his circle.

The party "is not personal property for you and your wife to do as you please," Mnangagwa tells Mugabe in an angry five-page statement.

He vows to return to Zimbabwe to lead party members. The ruling ZANU-PF party later says it has expelled him.

Army chief's warning

November 13: Zimbabwe's army chief General Constantino Chiwenga warns the military could intervene to stop what he calls a purge of Mugabe's rivals in ZANU-PF, branding them "treacherous shenanigans".

Mnangagwa is backed by veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war. He has close links with the military, having been Mugabe's national security minister.

Army denies coup

November 14: A convoy of tanks is seen moving on the outskirts of the Zimbabwean capital.

Gunfire is heard near to Mugabe's residence in Harare.

Military officers deny a coup. In an overnight declaration on state television, they say Mugabe is safe and they are "only targeting criminals around him".

Mugabe held

November 15: military vehicles take control of the streets of Harare in the early hours.

South Africa says Mugabe has told its president Jacob Zuma by telephone that he is under house arrest but is "fine".

South Africa sends two special envoys to Zimbabwe. The European Union urges a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Former colonial power Britain urges all sides in Zimbabwe to refrain from violence and says the situation is "very fluid".

The head of the African Union, Guinea's President Alpha Conde, says the crisis in Zimbabwe "seems like a coup". He calls on the military to halt their actions and restore constitutional order.

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