Zimbabwean independence icon turned authoritarian leader, Robert Mugabe, has died aged 95.
Mr Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a military coup in 2017 after 37 years in power.
The former president was praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority.
But later years were marked by violent repression of his political opponents and Zimbabwe’s economic ruin.
His successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, expressed his “utmost sadness”, calling Mr Mugabe “an icon of liberation”.
It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe (1/2)— President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) 6 September 2019
Mr Mnangagwa had been Mr Mugabe’s deputy before replacing him.
Singapore’s foreign ministry said it was working with the Zimbabwean embassy there to have Mr Mugabe’s body flown back to his home country.
Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 in what was then Rhodesia – a British colony, run by its white minority.
After criticising the government of Rhodesia in 1964 he was imprisoned for more than a decade without trial.
In 1973, while still in prison, he was chosen as president of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu), of which he was a founding member.
