Zimbabwean war veterans' leader Mr Chenjerai Hunzvi, who was a key political ally of President Robert Mugabe and spearheaded an invasion of white-owned farms last year, died today.
"We heard the news of Dr Hunzvi's death with shock," said ZANU-PF's secretary for administration, Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa.
"It is a blow to parliament and the party and the war veterans' association," he said after Mr Hunzvi's death was announced on state radio.
Mr Hunzvi's public profile soared last year when he spearheaded violence against members and supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the run-up to parliamentary elections narrowly won by ZANU-PF.
He also led the invasion of hundreds of white-owned farms by thousands of self-styled veterans of former Rhodesia's war of independence from white rule, demanding land which the veterans said had been stolen during the British colonial era.
At least 31 people, mostly MDC supporters, including five white farmers, died in months of political violence.