Maseru - Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas
Thabane resigned on Tuesday, removing the main hurdle to
resolving a political crisis that engulfed the small southern
African mountain kingdom late last year.
Thabane's departure marks the end of one of Lesotho's
longest political careers, one marked by exile, feuding,
intrigue, tensions with the military and a political crisis that
erupted when police named him as a suspect in a murder case late
last year.
His own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party, opposition
figures and South African mediators, had been heaping pressure
on the prime minister to resign over a case in which he and his
current wife are suspected of conspiring to murder his former
wife nearly three years ago.
They have both denied any involvement.
"The time to retire from the great theatre of action, take
leave from public life and office has finally arrived," the
eighty-year-old told citizens in a speech on Lesotho TV.
"I plead with the entire nation and leadership to give my
successor utmost support, and on my part I wish to assure him of
my support at all material times," he added.
Finance minister Moeketsi Majoro has been named by
parliament as Thabane's interim replacement.