Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe will be buried at his rural home over the weekend, ending a tug of war between the government and his family over his final resting place.

Under police escort, his body was taken to Zvimba district late on Thursday.

It had been kept at his luxury mansion in the capital, Harare, awaiting the completion of a grand mausoleum at the national war heroes' shrine.

But those plans have been abandoned and the information ministry has said government will respect his family’s new position.

The man who led Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 will be buried in a private ceremony in his village of Kutama in Zvimba, about 85km (52 miles) west of Harare, over the weekend.

Mr Mugabe who led the country for 37 years, before he was deposed in November 2017, died aged 95 in Singapore earlier this month.

The Mugabe family said that the former president did not want those who played a role in his downfall to preside over his burial.

A member of the presidential guard bows his head next to the coffin Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe