Zimbabwe 's Robert Mugabe resigns ending 37
Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption MPs cheered and celebrated as the resignation was announced 
Most people assumed that the only way  Robert Mugabe  would give up being president was to die in  his  bed.  He  probably thought so too.
The man who seems about to take his place  Emmerson Mnangagwa  was deeply involved in most of those crimes  yet people in  Zimbabwe   like the outside world  will be so relieved to see Mr Mugabe go that they will be tempted to forget all that.
They'll also forget the few unquestionably good things Robert Mugabe did.  Zimbabwe   for instance  has an extraordinarily high literacy rate  because of him. But that's certainly not what he'll be remembered for.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Mr Mugabe's resignation "provides  Zimbabwe  with an opportunity to forge a new path free of the oppression that characterised his rule".
She said that former colonial power Britain  "as  Zimbabwe 's oldest friend"  will do all it can to support free and fair elections and the rebuilding of the Zimbabwean economy.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC he hoped that  Zimbabwe  was on a "new trajectory" that would include free and fair elections. He said Mr Mugabe should be allowed to "go and rest for his last days".
 Robert Mugabe  won elections during  his  37 years in power  but over the past 15 years these were marred by violence against political opponents.
 He  presided over a deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe  where people are on average 15% poorer now than they were in 1980.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Activist and political candidate Vimbaishe Musvaburi "We are tired of  this man   we are so glad  he  is gone"
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption MPs cheered and celebrated as the resignation was announced 
Most people assumed that the only way  Robert Mugabe  would give up being president was to die in  his  bed.  He  probably thought so too.
The man who seems about to take his place  Emmerson Mnangagwa  was deeply involved in most of those crimes  yet people in  [TGT]   like the outside world  will be so relieved to see Mr Mugabe go that they will be tempted to forget all that.
They'll also forget the few unquestionably good things Robert Mugabe did.  [TGT]   for instance  has an extraordinarily high literacy rate  because of him. But that's certainly not what he'll be remembered for.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Mr Mugabe's resignation "provides  Zimbabwe  with an opportunity to forge a new path free of the oppression that characterised his rule".
She said that former colonial power Britain  "as  Zimbabwe 's oldest friend"  will do all it can to support free and fair elections and the rebuilding of the Zimbabwean economy.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the BBC he hoped that  Zimbabwe  was on a "new trajectory" that would include free and fair elections. He said Mr Mugabe should be allowed to "go and rest for his last days".
 Robert Mugabe  won elections during  his  37 years in power  but over the past 15 years these were marred by violence against political opponents.
 He  presided over a deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe  where people are on average 15% poorer now than they were in 1980.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Activist and political candidate Vimbaishe Musvaburi "We are tired of  this man   we are so glad  he  is gone"