I won't step down, vows Mugabe

ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe yesterday said it would be "foolhardy" for him to step down after winning a new term in office just months ago, rejecting reports that he planned to make way for a new leadership.

Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and South Africa denied on Monday any role in a "Mugabe exit plan" said by a Zimbabwean newspaper to be aimed at ending the country's worsening political and economic crisis. "Only a few months ago, the people elected me to serve them and it would be absolutely counter-revolutionary and foolhardy for me to step down," Mr Mugabe told reporters during a visit to neighbouring Zambia.

At a ceremony to honour founding Zambian president and liberation hero Kenneth Kaunda, Mr Mugabe reaffirmed his tough stance, adding he would never agree to be exiled from home. "I am not retiring. I will never, never go into exile. I fought for Zimbabwe and when I die I will be buried in Zimbabwe, nowhere else," he said to applause.