Deal 'close' for Mugabe to leave

He's probably seeing sense at last. According to the BBC he's trying to wrap up a deal. After all, even someone as wily and cunning as Mugabe can't make one third of the votes turn into two-thirds overnight. Too much ballot box shifting for an old man!

He's far better off this way. Morgan Tsvangirai probably won't be too hard on him. Just send him Christmas cards featuring his battered face! Mugabe called Tsvangirai an ignoramus, partly because he was a mineworker. On that basis the whole country must have been ignoramuses, but they kept their collective intelligence quiet. Mugabe now knows his petty insults have finally run out of steam.

Good riddance, I say. This beautiful country and her people deserve a far brighter future.