Mbeki agrees to stand down as president
Mr Mbeki and Mr Zuma have been engaged in a bitter power struggle
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Saturday, 20, Sep 2008 07:50
South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki has agreed to resign after the governing African National Congress (ANC) party recommended he step down, it has been confirmed.
Mr Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said that the president would step down once "all constitutional requirements have been met".
The announcement came after the ANC's national executive committee called on the president to resign after a judge alleged he had somehow interfered in a case against the party's leader Jacob Zuma.
Mr Mbeki has called a cabinet meeting for Sunday and the decision marks an end to a bitter power struggle between Mr Mbeki and Mr Zuma over the past two years, which have resulted in serious intra-party disputes.
In 2005, Mr Mbeki dismissed Mr Zuma as the country's deputy president over alleged corruption charges.
Mr Zuma then beat Mr Mbeki to become the leader of the dominant ANC, which has ruled since the end of apartheid, and is almost certain to take over the country's highest office now.
ANC secretary general secretary Gwede Mantashe told reporters today that Mr Mbeki "welcomed the news and agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities".