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Timeline: A Look at Life of Zimbabwe's Former President Robert Mugabe

Reuters

   HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Following are key milestones in the life of
   Zimbabwe's former leader Robert Mugabe.

   1924 -- Mugabe is born Feb. 21 in what was then British-ruled Southern
   Rhodesia.

   1940s-1950s -- He is educated at Catholic schools and attends South
   Africa's University of Fort Hare. He teaches in Zambia and Ghana, where
   he is influenced by African independence movement leaders.

   1960s -- Mugabe campaigns for Zimbabwe's independence and is imprisoned
   in 1964 for political agitation. While incarcerated, he earns two law
   degrees from the University of London External Program.

   1974 -- Released from prison, he escapes to Mozambique, where Zimbabwe
   African National Union guerrilla fighters elect him to lead their
   struggle against white minority rule. A number of rivals die in
   suspicious circumstances, rights groups say.

   1980 -- Mugabe's ZANU-PF party wins independent Zimbabwe's first
   election. He takes office as prime minister April 18.

   1982 -- Mugabe deploys North Korean-trained troops to crush an
   insurgency by former guerrillas loyal to his liberation war rival
   Joshua Nkomo. Government forces are accused of involvement in the
   killing of 20,000 civilians, which Mugabe denies.

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