Johannesburg  - The top decision-making body of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party began a three- day meeting Friday that will decide the fate of President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki's neck has been on the ANC's chopping block since a court last week found evidence of political interference in the decision to prosecute ANC leader Jacob Zuma for corruption.

Mbeki and Zuma have been foes ever since Mbeki sacked Zuma as his deputy in 2005 on suspicion of corruption in an arms deal.

Zuma came back to trounce Mbeki as leader of the ANC last December, putting him on track to become president.

In throwing out the charges against Zuma on a technicality, a judge in the Pietermaritzburg High Court referred to "political machinations" in the case and questioned the timing of Zuma's indictment - a few days after Zuma became ANC leader.

The ruling was seen by Zuma's allies as a vindication of their long-held claim that he was being "persecuted, not prosecuted." The National Prosecuting Authority has vowed to appeal the decision - a

At this weekend's meeting, the ANC's National Executive Committee will discuss growing calls within the party, particularly from the militant, stridently pro-Zuma ANC Youth League, for Mbeki to be shown the door.

Analysts have warned that such a move, seven months before general elections at which Zuma, as leader of the majority party, is expected to take over as president, would be folly.

They say voters could punish the ANC at the polls for devoting its energies to internal squabbles instead of addressing pressing social needs in a country where millions still live in tin shacks.

Local newspapers have also speculated that several of Mbeki's cabinet ministers would walk with him, if he were pushed by the party into early retirement - triggering a possible governing crisis.

Zuma himself has resisted Mbeki's early ouster, saying there was no point in "beating a dead snake."

If Mbeki is called upon by the ANC to resign but refuses, the party has two options.

It could either try to remove him on the basis of serious misconduct, violation of the constitution or unfitness for office, a move that requires a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. The ANC has a more-than-two-thirds majority in the assembly, with 297 out of 400 seats.

Or the National Assembly could pass a vote of no-confidence in Mbeki, which requires just a simple majority, but also requires the whole cabinet to resign. (dpa)