Mugabe turns 88, vowing to cling to power
Harare, 21 Feb – (ANA) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe turned 88 today vowing to stay in power despite party moves to make him hand over to a younger leader. 
Mugabe said he was healthy and fit, in an interview with state television yesterday, and made no reference to media reports that he is receiving treatment for prostate cancer in Singapore.
"At this age I can still go some distance, can't I," Mugabe said, laughing, clapping his hands and rocking in his chair.
Mugabe once charmed global figures with his wit and intellect in the early years of his rule when a relatively rich Zimbabwe was praised for its education and social systems.
But he has since become a pariah in the West, blamed for running the economy into the ground and for massive human rights abuses to keep his grip on power.
Mugabe, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, said his party ZANU-PF would choose his successor at the right time, but he had no intention of stepping down for now. (ANA)
FA/ANA/21 February 2012---------