Zimbabwe's ruling party has endorsed 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe as its candidate in a national election scheduled for 2018.

The Zanu-PF party announced the endorsement at an annual conference in the south-east town of Masvingo.

The party's youth wing even proposed that Mr Mugabe should rule for life with broad powers.

In a speech on Friday, Mr Mugabe acknowledged that some people within the ruling party wanted him to quit and he warned officials to stop squabbling as a succession battle intensifies.

Mr Mugabe has been in power since the southern African nation's independence from white minority rule in 1980.

A deteriorating economy has increased pressure on Mr Mugabe, who has faced more opposition protests in the past year.

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