Zimbabwe: Party to sack Mugabe on Sunday if he doesn't go

Zimbabwe's PresidentRobert Mugabeappeared in public on Friday for the first time since the army took charge, as the ruling party made plans to force him to step down after more than three decades in power.

The president, who is 93, opened a graduation ceremony at Zimbabwe Open University in Harare. He wore blue and yellow academic robes and a mortar board hat and appeared to fall asleep in his chair as his eyes closed and his head lolled.

Mugabe led the country's liberation struggle and has dominated its politics since independence in 1980 but this week's army takeover signals the collapse of his authority despite his insistence he remains in charge.

A senior member of the ZANU-PF ruling party said it wanted him gone. "If he becomes stubborn, we will arrange for him to be fired on Sunday," the source said.

"When that is done, it's impeachment on Tuesday." In contrast, the military said in a statement on national television it was "engaging" with Mugabe. It referred to him as commander-in-chief and said it would announce an outcome as soon as possible.

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The ruling ZANU-PF party has called for a mass meeting in the capital on Saturday to show its support for the War Veterans group in their bid to remove Mugabe.

The army appears to want him to go quietly and allow a transition to Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week as vice-president triggered the takeover. A goal of the generals is to prevent

Mugabe handing power to his wife, Grace, who appeared on the cusp of power after Mnangagwa was pushed out.

Zimbabwe's official newspaper, the Herald, ran photographs late on Thursday showing Mugabe grinning and shaking hands with military chief General Constantino Chiwenga, who seized power this week.

The images stunned Zimbabweans who said it meant Mugabe was managing to hold out against Chiwenga's coup. Some political sources said he was trying to delay his departure until elections scheduled for next year.

The ZANU-PF source said that was not the case. Anxious to avoid a protracted stalemate, party leaders were drawing up plans to dismiss Mugabe at the weekend if he refused to quit, the source said.

"There is no going back," the source said. The army is camped on his doorstep. Grace Mugabe is under house arrest and her key political allies are in military custody. The police, once a bastion of support, have shown no signs of resistance.