Zimbabwe:Zimbabwe's ruling party has approved plans to extend President Robert Mugabe's rule to 2010, a step that critics believe will plunge the southern African country deeper into crisis.
At its annual party conference outside the capital, Harare, the ruling Zanu-PF party overwhelmingly endorsed plans to postpone presidential elections - originally scheduled for 2008 - for a further two years.
While delegates provided a united front in public, observers claimed that there were bitter divisions at the Saturday conference - divisions that some believe could be a prelude to a split within the party.
The Harare-based Zimbabwe Standard said that most of the delegates to whom it had spoken said that Mr Mugabe (82) needed to leave office as soon as possible if the country was to be saved from further economic and political disaster.
A senior party official was quoted as saying: "For the first time, we have senior officials in Zanu-PF who say they are not happy with Mugabe's "handiende" [I will not go] declaration. Mugabe appears to be very much aware of the level of disgruntlement that his clinging on to power is generating within the ruling party."
The BBC also reported serious in-fighting "behind the scenes", with no clear decision in the party about who should succeed the president.
Hopes among pro-democracy activists that Mr Mugabe's power had been weakened seem premature, however.
In the absence of any debate over succession, the conference ended with jubilant praise for the president, who claimed "victory" over his enemies, including one of his chief international critics, British prime minister Tony Blair.
Mr Mugabe told delegates: "When I stand up and speak against Mr Blair and Mr Bush, I know I have got your support.
"Even our neighbours should not think they can change the government in this country. Only the people of Zimbabwe have the right. We can not go out to Zambia, Malawi or South Africa and say we want to change government there."
The main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, condemned the plan to postpone the presidential poll until 2010 - a date already scheduled for parliamentary elections.
The Movement for Democratic Change, which accused Mr Mugabe of rigging previous elections, said that the move would make him an "illegitimate and unelected president for an extra two years".
The president had called for the two-year extension just last week.
The proposal must now be approved by parliament, which is expected to be a foregone conclusion, given the dominance of Mr Mugabe's party.