Burundi’s president urges end to protest, coup leader at large

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza’s spokesman said he had returned to the capital on Friday after a failed coup but that the general behind it had not been arrested as he had reported earlier, adding to confusion after three days of turmoil. In an address on the small east African country’s state radio, Nkurunziza urged an end to weeks of demonstrations over his quest for a third term in office.

There is peace in the whole country, including in the capital city where the coup-makers were operating.

Nkurunziza said after a day of clashes in which at least a dozen people were killed

Nkurunziza’s spokesman said earlier that Burundian forces had arrested General Godefroid Niyombare, who had announced the president’s ouster on Wednesday while he was abroad. Niyombare “has not been arrested”, presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho told Reuters later. He said the source of his earlier statement had corrected the information. Burundi was plunged into deep crisis after Nkurunziza announced he was running for another five-year term, with clashes between police and protesters stirring memories of an ethnically driven civil war that ended just a decade ago.

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