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13 May 2015

Burundi: general declares coup against Pierre Nkurunziza

A Burundi army general says senior officers have “dismissed” President Pierre Nkurunziza for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office.

President Nkurunziza had said he will stand for a third term in next month’s elections, a move opposition groups say defies the constitution and a peace agreement which limits presidential tenures in Burundi to two five-year terms.

The presidential office quickly rubbished the declaration by Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February. “We consider it as a joke not as a military coup,” presidential aide Willy Niyamitwe said.

But crowds of people streamed onto the streets of Burundi’s capital, cheering and singing, after the announcement and soldiers surrounded the state broadcaster building.

‘Arrogance and defiance’

Mr Niyombare made his declaration to reporters at a military barracks in Bujumbura, while the president was out of the country at an African summit on the crisis.

“Regarding President Nkurunziza’s arrogance and defiance of the international community which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the committee for the establishment of the national concord decide: President Nkurunziza is dismissed, his government is dismissed too,” he said.

More than 20 people have been killed since street protests erupted in the impoverished central African state more than two weeks ago, according to an unofficial count by activists.

Civil unrest

The unrest has plunged the poor Great African Lakes region nation into its worst crisis since the end of a conflict a decade ago that pitted rebel groups of the majority ethnic Hutus against minority Tutsis.

More than 50,000 people have fled Burundi to neighbouring states including Rwanda, where a genocide killed 800,000 people in 1994.

Fears have been raised that tensions could escalate further and drive a wedge between the previously warring Tutsis and Hutus, not only in Burundi, but in neighbouring countries involved in the refugee effort.

Mr Nkurunziza came to power in 2005, an event that signaled the end of the 13-year long civil war in which 300,000 Burundians lost their lives.