Mbeki steps down

Thabo Mbeki has formally resigned as the president of South Africa, a day after accepting a call by the governing African National Congress to quit.

In a televised address, Mr Mbeki said he had handed a resignation letter to the speaker of the National Assembly.

He said he would leave his post as soon as a new president was chosen.

Correspondents say it is not clear who will succeed him, but the ANC appears to favour the parliamentary speaker, Baleka Mbete, as acting president.

Mr Mbeki's speech followed an emergency cabinet meeting. He is stepping down before his final term expires next year.

The move comes days after a high court judge suggested that Mr Mbeki may have interfered in a corruption case against his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

But during his address, Mr Mbeki made an impassioned defence of his position.

There had been no effort at all to meddle with the judicial process, he said. And Mr Mbeki dismissed any suggestion he had been trying to shape the judgement for his own political ends.

The BBC's Karen Allen, in Johannesburg, said this was a very measured and reflective speech.

Mr Mbeki began by saying that the ANC would decide the date of his leaving.

"I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years. I remain a member of the ANC, and therefore respect its decisions," he said.

This was a very clear signal that he like so many others is keen to make the transition as smooth as possible, our correspondent says.

Mr Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in 1999, thanked the nation and his party, the ANC, for giving him the opportunity to serve in public office.

Source: BBC