CORRUPTION charges against Jacob Zuma were dropped today, clearing the way for his expected election as president of South Africa.

The country's senior prosecutor, Mokotedi Mpshe, said the charges had been manipulated for political reasons and it was "neither possible nor desirable" to continue prosecuting Mr Zuma, who leads South Africa's governing party.

Mr Zuma was accused of accepting bribes to thwart an investigation into wrongdoing by a French arms company. He has faced the possibility of trial since 2003, when prosecutors first said there was enough evidence.

Mr Zuma, 66, has maintained he is innocent and that he was being persecuted for political reasons. He has remained the presidential candidate for the African National Congress and is expected to lead his party to victory in the 22 April elections.

The decision to drop corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering charges will end a long legal saga that has raised doubts over his ability to govern, after what is expected to be the most closely contested election since the end of apartheid.

Mr Zuma was charged in 2005, but the case was dismissed on a technicality the following year. He was charged again in December 2007, days after beating Thabo Mbeki to get elected as his party's president.

High Court judge Chris Nicholson dismissed the case in September, implying the charges were the result of political meddling by Mr Mbeki.

Impoverished black South Africans embrace Mr Zuma, born in rural Zulu, as a man they believe understands their struggle.

He joined the ANC in 1959 and was arrested in 1963, convicted of conspiring to overthrow the white minority government and sentenced to 10 years on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. He left South Africa in 1975 and spent 12 years in exile.

In 2006, Mr Zuma was acquitted of raping a family friend.

In another political storm last week, the ANC and its allies condemned Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said Mr Zuma is unfit to lead, for his criticism of the politician.

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