The body of Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler Robert Mugabe has arrived in the capital, Harare, where it was met by President Emmerson Mnangagwa and a full military delegation.

Widow Grace Mugabe, dressed in black and with a black veil, was seated at a podium on the tarmac.

Mr Mugabe’s body will be displayed at historic locations for several days before burial at a location still unannounced.

Zimbabwe Mugabe
Zimbabweans await for the arrival of the body of longt-ime ruler Robert Mugabe (Themba Hadebe/AP)

That indicates friction between the ex-leader’s family and the government.

Mr Mugabe, who died at 95 in a Singapore hospital on Friday, was a guerrilla leader who led the fight to end white-minority rule in what was then Rhodesia, and ruled Zimbabwe from its independence in 1980 until he was deposed in 2017.

During his 37-year authoritarian leadership Zimbabwe descended from prosperity to economic crisis.