Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dies at 65
JOHANNESBURG — Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai died Wednesday at age 65, ending a long campaign to lead his country that brought him jailings, beatings and accusations of treason.
Tsvangirai died Wednesday evening in a Johannesburg hospital, said Elias Mudzuri, a vice-president of the Movement for Democratic Change party. The opposition leader had been battling colon cancer for two years.
Tsvangirai for years was longtime ruler Robert Mugabe’s most potent challenger and even became prime minister in an uncomfortable coalition government for a few years. Mugabe, 93 and in power for 37 years, resigned in November after pressure from the military and ruling party.
In January, the ailing Tsvangirai suggested that he would be stepping down, saying he was “looking at the imminent prospects of us as the older generation leaving the levers of leadership to allow the younger generation to take forward this huge task.”