Mugabe warns Zanu-PF over divisions

Harare, 23 Dec-(ANA)- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe  has condemned splits within Zanu-PF, saying internal fighting is tearing the party apart and emboldening its rivals.

Addressing the party members Mugabe said "the reason why we lost last year was because of factions in many provinces. This is how the party has suffered damage."

"The party is eating itself up. The more intense the internal fighting is, the greater opportunity we give to the opposition to thrive."

Zanu-PF lost its majority in parliament for the first time last year to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and Mugabe was forced to share power with his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, who was appointed as prime minister.

"We have to restore our party as the people's choice, the only choice, the people's party," Mugabe said.

The Zanu-PF congress comes amid reports that Zanu-PF is facing a deep split over Mugabe's succession.

Mugabe, 85, took up the party leadership in the 1970s at the height of the guerrilla war against the white-minority government of Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia.

He has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980 and is hailed by his supporters as a liberation hero.

Mugabe has already been endorsed as the Zanu-PF candidate for the next elections slated for 2013, when he will be 89. (ANA)

FA/ANA/23 December 2009---