Harare: Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe has agreed to resign in return for the army promising him and his wife full immunity after last week's takevover, CNN reported on Monday quoting unnamed official sources.
The report said generals had agreed to many of Mugabe's demands, including full immunity for himself and his wife Grace and permission to keep his private properties.
It also quoting the source who has direct knowledge of the negotiations as saying the generals' aim with Sunday's television address was to get Mugabe to declare the military's actions constitutional.
The report said Mugabe's resignation was already drafted and that it would be sent to the speaker of Parliament.
Robert Mugabe had been facing the threat of impeachment by his own party, after his shock insistence that he still holds power despite a military takeover and a noon deadline to end his 37-year autocratic rule.
In a televised address late Sunday, the 93-year-old had defied expectations that he would bring the curtain down on his reign, pitching the country into a second week of political crisis.
The speech provoked anger and disbelief among crowds who had gathered in bars and cafes to watch, and raised concerns that Zimbabwe could be at risk of a violent reaction to the political tensions.
His once-loyal ZANU-PF party — who has already sacked him and told him to resign as head of state — had warned it would seek to impeach him if he fails to quit by midday on Monday (3:30pm IST).
The speech capped an extraordinary weekend that saw Zimbabweans jubilant at the prospect of his demise and venting their anger in ways that, just a week earlier, would have been brutally punished.
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