Robert Mugabe, the former guerrilla leader tuned despot who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years until forced out by the military, has died aged 95, the country's president announced Friday.
First heralded as a liberator who rid the former British colony of Rhodesia of white minority rule, Mugabe used repression and fear to govern until he was finally ousted by his previously loyal generals in November 2017.
"It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe's founding father and former President... Robert Mugabe," President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a tweet.
Mugabe died at 0240 GMT in Singapore, where he had been hospitalised in April, a Zimbabwean diplomat in South Africa told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Mugabe was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people. His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten," Mnangagwa said.
Mugabe had been battling ill health, and after his humiliating fall from office, his stamina seeped away rapidly.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa remembered Mugabe as "liberation fighter" and a "champion of Africa's cause against colonialism".
Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta hailed Mugabe as an "elder statesman, a freedom fighter and a Pan-Africanist who played a major role in shaping the interests of the African continent."
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