Military takes control of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe under house arrest

Zimbabwe's military was in control of the country yesterday as President Robert Mugabe said he was under house arrest, although generals denied staging a coup. Mugabe's decades-long grip on power appeared to be fading as military vehicles blocked roads outside the parliament in Harare and senior soldiers delivered a late-night television address to the nation.

"The president... and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed," Major General Sibusiso Moyo said, slowly reading out a statement.

Robert and Grace Mugabe

"We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes... As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy," Moyo said, adding, "This is not a military takeover of government".

Major General Sibusiso Moyo

Tensions between Mugabe and the military establishment, which has long helped prop up his authoritarian rule, erupted in public over recent weeks.