One of Burundi's vice-presidents has
fled the country, saying he felt threatened after opposing President
Pierre Nkurunziza's third-term bid.
Burundi has seen months of turmoil since Mr Nkurunziza announced that he would be running for office again in July's election.
Gervais Rufyikiri told France24 TV that a third term for the president would be unconstitutional.
A government spokesman denied that Mr Rufyikiri had been threatened.
There
are also reports that Burundi's National Assembly Speaker Pie
Ntavyohanyuma has left for Belgium, citing medical reasons. He had also
criticised the president's bid for a third term.
Both men hold Belgian nationality.
Violent protests in the capital Bujumbura followed the 25 April announcement that Mr Nkurunziza would seek re-election.
Rights groups say at least 70 people have been killed and 500 wounded
as demonstrators clashed with police over the past two months.
More than 100,000 people have fled Burundi since the start of the crisis, the UN says.
In a sign of continuing tension, four people have been injured in a grenade attack in Bujumbura.
Also,
more than 100 students have climbed into the compound of the US embassy
to escape from the police, who were threatening to dismantle a camp
that they had set up outside the building.
BUJUMBURA (BURUNDI) - The
vice president of Burundi's election commission has fled the country,
sources told AFP on Saturday, in a new blow to government plans to push
ahead with next week's first stage of controversial elections.
Spes
Caritas Ndironkeye left the central African nation on a flight for
neighbouring Rwanda on Friday evening, associates said, adding that she
had left behind a letter of resignation.
An electoral commission
source said she "left without saying goodbye, without saying where she
was going." A second member of the five-person commission, Illuminata
Ndabahagamye, is also thought to have fled, sources said.
"What has happened is a catastrophe, but it was inevitable," another commission source said.
"Technically,
the Election Commission can continue to work with four out of five
members. But if two have left, no decision can be taken and it will be
impossible to replace them before June 5," the source said.
Burundi's
crisis surrounds President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a
third term in office, with opposition and rights groups saying the move
violates the constitution as well as the terms of a peace deal that
ended a 13-year civil war in 2006.
The capital Bujumbura has been
hit by weeks of civil unrest which has left at least 30 dead in a major
security crackdown, and the crisis intensified earlier this month when a
top general staged a failed coup attempt -- increasing fears that the
impoverished, landlocked country could be plunged back into widespread
violence.
The opposition has also said the holding of free and
fair elections is impossible, with independent media silenced and
allegations of threats and intimidation by Nkurunziza's supporters.
Parliamentary elections are due to be held on June 5, with a presidential poll scheduled for June 26.
Attackers hurled twin grenades into a crowd in
Burundi's capital late Friday, killing three people, the latest in
almost month of deadly violence triggered by the president's bid for a
third term.
Thousands of anti-government protesters earlier
battled police in the capital Bujumbura, defying one of the heaviest
pushes by security forces to end weeks of demonstrations against
President Pierre Nkurunziza.
But the grenade blasts -- the first such attacks to apparently
deliberately target a civilian crowd -- mark a deadly twist in the
unrest that has sent 110,000 Burundians fleeing as refugees into
neighbouring nations.
Deputy police chief, General Godefroid Bizimana, said the unknown
attackers aimed to kill, with three dead but also about a dozen maimed
or wounded.
"Those who did this had the intention to kill, because the grenades
were thrown among women selling fruits, in a big crowd," Bizimana said,
adding the attackers escaped.
Meanwhile, protesters torched election materials in two separate
attacks south of the capital, electoral commission spokesman Prosper
Ntahorwmiye said, destroying voting booths and ballot boxes. "Everything
was burned," Ntahorwmiye said. Two-day truce and talks
More than 20 people have died since the crisis erupted in late April
after the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to stand again in the June
26 presidential election. The crisis deepened last week when a top
general staged a failed coup attempt.
Parliamentary polls, initially set for May 26, have been postponed to June 5.
Nkurunziza said in an address to the nation late Wednesday that most
of the central African country was secure and that upcoming
parliamentary and presidential votes would be peaceful.
But on Friday morning, protesters shouted and blew whistles to try to
encourage others to come out onto the streets. By late afternoon,
thousands had answered the call. Some looted a beer truck as they
celebrated, despite gunfire from police.
"And the government says there is no demonstration in Bujumbura!" said Adolphe, 46, a civil engineer and local resident.
But protesters also announced a two-day weekend truce "to allow the
people to bury with dignity those who died for democracy," civil society
leader Pacifique Nininahazwe said, but adding a warning that "protests
will resume on Monday with even more force."
Nininahazwe said that talks between the protesters, opposition parties and government had been taking place this week.
"We ask the government to show good faith by refraining to shoot
protesters," Nininahazwe added. "On our part, we promise a completely
peaceful demonstration. If they continue to shoot, we will end the
dialogue process." Cholera deaths rising
Opposition and rights groups say that Nkurunziza's bid for a third
five-year term violates the constitution and the terms of a peace deal
that ended a 13-year civil war in 2006.
Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian who
believes he has divine backing to lead the country, argues that his
first term did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly
by the people.
Refugees continue to flee the violence, the majority to neighbouring
Tanzania, where over 50,000 refugees are struggling in dire conditions
on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
Cholera has broken out in squalid refugee camps there, with at least
31 people having died and over 3,000 cases in total, with numbers
growing by up to 400 cases a day, according to the UN refugee agency.
Burundi's President Pierre
Nkurunziza has returned to the country and his troops say they are in
control of key locations, a day after a coup attempt.
Mr Nkurunziza announced his return on the Burundi presidency Twitter site.
There
were earlier fierce clashes in the capital, Bujumbura, particularly at
the state radio office, but they are now said to have subsided. Five
soldiers are reported killed.
Mr Nkurunziza had been in Tanzania when the coup began on Wednesday.
Protests
began in Burundi on 26 April when Mr Nkurunziza announced he was
seeking a third term, a move his opponents said was unconstitutional.
The
coup was launched by Maj Gen Godefroid Niyombare, a former ally of the
president, on Wednesday after Mr Nkurunziza travelled to Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania's largest city, to attend a summit on the crisis.
There were no new statements from Gen Niyombare on Thursday. Thursday's events as they unfolded What's behind the coup bid? Timeline of events
Reports
late on Wednesday said the president had tried to fly back to Burundi
but was forced to return to Tanzania as he could not land.
However, Burundian presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe told the BBC on
Thursday that the president had left Tanzania and was "safe and sound".
He later confirmed that Mr Nkurunziza was in Burundi but would give no more details due to "security reasons".
He
had earlier told Radio France Internationale: "The loyalist army is
present, his advisers are present and the government is present. The
country, then, continues to function."
In his Twitter posting, Mr
Nkurunziza said: "I thank the army and police for their patriotism.
Above all I thank Burundians for their patience."
'Fighting has stopped'
Army chief of staff Gen Prime Niyongabo told the BBC's Maud Jullien the number of soldiers backing the coup had fallen.
"On
Wednesday evening we gave them the chance to rejoin the army to avoid a
bloodbath. But they tried to attack the radio station today - the army
repelled the attack.
"We are in control of all strategic points in
the country. Burundi is a democratic nation. The army does not
interfere in politics. We are obliged to follow the constitution."
BBC correspondents say the streets seem to be mainly in the control
of loyalist police, and the airport has reopened, which would appear to
confirm reports it too is in loyalist hands.
However, coup spokesman Venon Ndabaneze earlier insisted insurgent troops were in control of "virtually the entire city".
Fighting
erupted at the state radio building after the RTBN station had
broadcast a message from Mr Nkurunziza condemning the coup.
"I thank soldiers who are putting things in order, and I forgive any soldier who decides to surrender," he said.
At the scene: Ruth Nesoba in Bujumbura
It is quiet in the streets in the centre of Bujumbura at the moment and I can see that some people have ventured out.
In
the morning we woke to the news that the loyalists had launched an
attack on private radio stations, which were taken off air, and then
there was a struggle between rival factions in the army over control of
the national broadcaster. The TV is not on air, but radio is playing
Kirundi music. The broadcasts have been on and off.
There is no
confirmation about the whereabouts of Gen Niyombare and we have not
heard from him since his announcement of the coup on private radio on
Wednesday. The station briefly stopped broadcasting during the attack.
But
station director Jerome Nzokirantevye was soon back on air, saying:
"Now the fighting has stopped we can resume. It is still loyalist
soldiers who are in control."
Control of the national broadcaster is key because it is the only outlet still broadcasting outside the capital.
The two private radio stations have been shut down. The most popular -
Radio Publique Africaine - was burnt down overnight after broadcasting
the coup announcement.
Thousands of people had taken to the
streets on Wednesday to celebrate the announcement of the coup, marching
on the centre of Bujumbura alongside soldiers.
Tens of thousands flee
The unrest began after the 51-year-old president said he would run for re-election in June.
Opponents said this contravened the constitution, which states a president can only be elected to two terms.
Mr Nkurunziza argued he was entitled to a third term because he was
first appointed to the role by parliament in 2005, rather than elected.
Earlier this month, the country's constitutional court upheld his interpretation.
More than 20 people have died and tens of thousands of Burundians have fled to neighbouring states since the unrest began.
Coup bid leader: Gen Godefroid Niyombare, 46
Former rebel CNDD-FDD commander and ally of President Nkurunziza
First ethnic Hutu army chief - a significant step in reconciliation efforts
A negotiator in peace talks with last rebel group FNL
Oversaw Burundi's deployment to Somalia as part of African force
Served as ambassador to Kenya
Dismissed as intelligence chief in February three months after his appointment
Dismissal came days after he recommended against the third-term bid
