Zimbabwe takeover not a Coup - Zimbabwean Army Chief.

The Zimbabwean military's takeover of power and detention of President Robert Mugabe "seems like a coup", key regional bloc the African Union says.

Its head, Alpha Conde, said the AU demands an immediate return to constitutional order.

The military denies staging a coup, saying that Mr Mugabe is safe and that it was acting against "criminals" surrounding him.

Their move follows a power struggle over who might replace Mr Mugabe.

His vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa was fired last week, making Mr Mugabe's wife Grace the president's likely successor - but leaving top military officials feeling sidelined.

Mr Mugabe, 93, has dominated the country's political scene since it gained independence from the UK in 1980.

Responding to the developments, Mr Conde, who is also Guinea's president, said Zimbabwean soldiers "had obviously attempted to take power".

The AU had "serious concern" at the situation and "reiterates its full support to the country's legal institutions", the statement said.

The BBC's Anne Soy in Zimbabwe points out that Egypt was ejected from the AU after its 2013 coup, so it may be the Zimbabwean military is trying to avoid antagonising the bloc by not describing their actions as a coup.