Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is to take over as Zimbabwe's leader within 48 hours after President Robert Mugabe resigned, an official of the ruling Zanu-PF party has confirmed.
Mr Mnangagwa is already back in the country, according to a Zanu-PF minister who spoke to Mail Online, and has been thanking supporters via satellite phone.
Party chief whip Lovemore Matuke confirmed that he will assume office either on Wednesday or Thursday, with his term due to last until elections scheduled for 2018.
Known as 'The Crocodile', Mnangagwa, 75, is a notorious and much-feared figure in Zimbabwe, having led a vicious crackdown on opponents in the 1980s with the help of the dreaded North Korean-trained Fifth Army brigade.
Thousands of civilians were killed during the Gukurahundi campaign, but Mnangagwa has always denied involvement.
His reputation for cruelty is so legendary that he was one of the few leaders of Zimbabwe known to drive around the country without security.
Mnangagwa (pictured with Mugabe), 75, has had a long and varied political career, leading at one point the justice, defence, housing and finance ministries as well as being the speaker of the lower house and spymaster
He is also known for his unpredictable darting eyes and is understood to be a Chelsea supporter due to his admiration of the club's former striker Didier Drogba.
He has had a long and varied political career, leading at one point the justice, defence, housing and finance ministries as well as being the speaker of the lower house and a spymaster.
Mnangagwa was widely viewed as Mugabe's successor until he was ditched by the president last week and fled to South Africa.
Mugabe had accused his former deputy of plotting to take power from him, while his ambitious wife Grace referred to him as a snake that 'must be hit on the head' after the two clashed.
But Mnangagwa, who recently survived a poisoning attempt blamed on ice-cream from Mugabe's own dairy, has been telling allies he would return rapidly and everything would soon be 'sorted'.
In 1983, Mnangagwa led a major crackdown in Matabeleland, in the southwest of Zimbabwe. Tens of thousands of people were killed. Pictured: Bodies found in Matabeleland after the massacre
Zimbabweans sitting in front of Salibury prison (where Mugabe and Mnangagwa met and forged their political alliance) in 1968 after the triple hanging of James Dhlamini, Victor Mlambo and Duly Shadrack, was ordered by Ian Smith's government - despite Queen Elizabeth II issuing a royal reprieve
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