Burundi president appears in public after coup, warns of Islamist threat

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza made a brief statement to journalists in the foyer of his heavily guarded presidential offices in Bujumbura Sunday morning. He did not mention the failed coup plot or the protests that have rocked Burundi for weeks over his bid for a third term in office. Instead he described how he contacted the presidents of nearby African countries to discuss the threat from Somalia’s Islamic extremists, al-Shabab. Burundi, Kenya and Uganda contribute troops to the African Union force in Somalia that is fighting al-Shabab.

The government is going to use live bullets but this will not stop protesters from coming to the streets tomorrow and the day after until Nkurunziza withdraws his candidacy.

Mohammed Nibaruta, an opposition activist

Protests against Nkurunziza began April 26, a day after the ruling party made Nkurunziza its presidential candidate, and at least 15 people have been killed in the unrest. The coup attempt came after weeks of street protests against Nkurunziza’s efforts to stay in power by standing in elections for a third term in office. Seventeen security officials, including five generals, accused in the attempted coup appeared Saturday before a prosecutor who charged them with an attempt at destabilizing public institutions, lawyers of some of the suspects said. The general who announced the coup, however, remains at large.

Burundi Africa