Harare, Nov 15 (AFP) Zimbabwe's military appeared to bein control of the country today as generals denied staging acoup but used state television to vow to target "criminals"close to President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe's decades-long grip on power was dramaticallyweakened as military vehicles blocked roads outside theparliament in Harare and senior soldiers delivered a late-night television address to the nation.
"We wish to assure the nation that his excellency thepresident... and his family are safe and sound and theirsecurity is guaranteed," Major General Sibusiso Moyo said,slowly reading out a statement.
"We are only targeting criminals around him who arecommitting crimes... As soon as we have accomplished ourmission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy."Moyo said "this is not a military takeover ofgovernment".
But the generals' actions posed as a major challenge tothe ageing Mugabe, 93, who has ruled Zimbabwe sinceindependence from Britain in 1980.
Tensions between the veteran leader and the military,which has long helped prop up his authoritarian rule, haveerupted in public in recent days.
The ruling ZANU-PF party on Tuesday accused army chiefGeneral Constantino Chiwenga of "treasonable conduct" after hecriticised Mugabe for sacking vice president EmmersonMnangagwa.
Mnangagwa's dismissal left Mugabe's wife Grace, 52, inprime position to succeed her husband as the next president --a succession strongly opposed by senior ranks in the military.
As the situation deteriorated overnight, prolongedgunfire was heard near Mugabe's private residence.
The US embassy warned its citizens in the country to"shelter in place" due to "ongoing political uncertainty".
Armoured vehicles in the capital alarmed residents asChiwenga had warned of possible military intervention. Thearmy's spokesman was not available to comment.
"The government's silence on the military deploymentsseem to confirm that President Mugabe has lost control of thesituation," Robert Besseling, of the London-based EXX Africarisk consultancy, said.
"Any coup would be likely to involve the imposition of acurfew.
"The main indicator of a broader outbreak of violencewould be the reaction of the Presidential Guard, which remainsloyal to President Mugabe."Mugabe is the world's oldest head of state, but his poorhealth has fuelled a bitter succession battle as potentialreplacements jockey for position.
In speeches this year, Mugabe has often slurred hiswords, mumbled and paused for long periods.
His lengthy rule has been marked by brutal repression ofdissent, mass emigration, vote-rigging and economic collapsesince land reforms in 2000.(AFP)AMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.