HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe made his first public appearance since the military put him under house arrest this week, attending a graduation ceremony to applause, even as the military announced “significant progress” on talks for his departure and arrested some of his allies.
The appearance came during an extraordinary series of negotiations with regional leaders over Mugabe’s departure after 37 years in power.
Zimbabwe’s military is taking pains to show respect for the 93-year-old leader, the world’s oldest head of state, by referring to him as the president and the commander-in-chief. At the same time, it said Friday it was arresting and pursuing some people close to Mugabe and his wife.
Friday’s graduation event appeared to allow Mugabe to project the image of leadership, even as calls for his departure grow stronger. Some Zimbabweans worried that Mugabe, the only leader many have ever known, would somehow find a way to stay on.
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