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Mugabe emerges from house arrest amid pressure to exit

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe emerged for the first time Friday from military-imposed house arrest, presiding at a university graduation ceremony in a fragile show of normalcy even as former loyalists across the country demanded that he resign after nearly four decades in power.

 

In an extraordinary evening newscast, state broadcaster ZBC—for decades, a mouthpiece for the Mugabe government—reported on the surging campaign for his ouster and showed video of ruling party members saying he should resign.

 

Clad in a blue academic gown, the 93-year-old leader earlier joined academics on a red carpet and sat in a high-backed chair in front of several thousand students and guests, a routine he has conducted for many years as the official chancellor of Zimbabwe's universities.

 

This time, however, the spectacle was jarring because the authority of the world's oldest head of state, once seen as impregnable, is evaporating daily.

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.17.17, 21:32