personnel carriers. mugabe is 93 years old, the only leader since independence. an ongoing struggle to succeed him, mugabe fired his vice president last week to apparently provide his wife a path to the presidency. the military move is an attempt to prevent that as authorities reportedly arrested ministers allied with mugabe s wife. state department spokesperson says we have clearly expressed our concerns about the actions undertaken by zimbabwe s military forces. we believe it s vital that zimbabwe and leaders exercise restraint and respect the rule of law. we do not condone military intervention in political processes. the embassy is encouraging americans to shelter in place. the u.k. foreign secretary called mugabe s rule brutal, featuring rigged elections, murder and torture of political opponents and illegal land seizures. the maneuvering to succeed