Good friend of Chirac, Robert Mugabe, may step down:

South African President Thabo Mbeki says his Zimbabwean counterpart, Robert Mugabe, is seriously considering retirement.

President Mbeki says Mr Mugabe has told him several times that he is contemplating retirement.

Mr Mbeki says the Zimbabwean President and the ruling ZANU-PF party are considering a renewal of leadership.

Last week, during an interview with Zimbabwean state television, Mr Mugabe said he was getting to the stage that retirement might be possible.

The 79-year-old has previously suggested that he would step down when his controversial land reform program was completed.

But there is no obvious successor to take over the presidency.

Mr Mugabe has been in power since 1980.

Controversial land reforms? The man singlehandedly removed whites who had owned those lands for generations and plunged his country into near famine. Where was Kofi Annan?