Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza thanked his security forces on Friday for crushing a military coup that tried to topple him and urged an immediate halt to the protests that have erupted in Burundi in recent weeks since he decided to seek a third term.
Nkurunziza’s motorcade rolled into the capital earlier in the day and he returned to the presidential palace, his spokesman Gervais Abayeho said.
The president did not appear in public.
Photo: AFP
Jubilant supporters cheered his return and the failure of the coup. Burundian Major General Godefroid Niyombare, a former head of intelligence, had announced on Wednesday while Nkurunziza was in Tanzania that he had relieved the president of his duties.
That triggered fierce fighting in the capital between his forces and those loyal to Nkurunziza. The city was calm but tense on Friday, with many businesses closed. Some residents who do not support the government emerged from their homes to resume protests.
Three army generals accused of trying to topple Nkurunziza were arrested when they were found hiding in a house, while another senior security official was caught at the border while trying to flee to Tanzania, Abayeho said.
He added that Niyombare remained at large and a manhunt was under way.
UN officials urged authorities to ensure that a campaign of reprisals do not take place against the supporters of the coup and other government opponents in the impoverished Central African country.
In New York, members of the UN Security Council also called for the swift return of the rule of law and a genuine dialogue to create conditions for peaceful, transparent, inclusive and credible elections. In a statement, they also specifically condemned those who facilitate violence, and called on the Burundi authorities to address the crisis while respecting fundamental freedoms.
In his speech, which was posted on his Web site in Burundi’s official language of Kirundi, Nkurunziza thanked “the security and defense forces for the efficiency with which they fought the coup against the democratically elected institutions.”
He said: “Peace reigns throughout the country, even in Bujumbura, where this small group of criminals wanted to commit the irreparable,” a reference to the coup plotters.
He added that they had been preparing their actions “for a long time, since last year and before.”
Nkurunziza called for an immediate end to all hostilities and urged dialogue.
“We therefore urge the immediate cessation of the demonstrations, that those who have claims do so in dialogue and consultation, not through force and revolt,” he said.
The protests began on April 26, a day after the ruling party made Nkurunziza its presidential candidate, and at least 15 people have been killed in the unrest.
Opponents said his plan violated the Burundian constitution as well as peace accords that ended a civil war.
The constitution says that a president can be popularly elected to two five-year terms, but Nkurunziza says he can run for a third because parliament voted him into office the first time, leaving him open to be popularly elected to two terms.
More than 105,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring countries recently, according to the UN, and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said on Friday that the country is at risk of descending further into chaos.
He urged authorities to ensure that the instigators of the failed coup are not harmed and that there are no reprisals against their perceived supporters, journalists, human rights activists and the many civilian protesters.
Nkurunziza’s motorcade drove to Bujumbura from the northern city of Ngozi, where he was greeted by many supporters after returning from Tanzania, Abayeho said.
Smoke was still billowing from the building housing the Radio Publique Africaine, which was among four popular independent radio stations and a TV station attacked in the fighting.
The national broadcaster that the coup plotters tried to seize was heavily guarded by army personnel and many police checkpoints were set up along a highway in southern Burundi.
The US embassy was closed on Friday, a day after the US Department of State ordered the departure of nonemergency government personnel and dependents of embassy staff.
US Department of State spokesman Jeff Rathke Rathke said the US could offer only limited emergency services to US citizens and underscored a travel warning urging all Americans to leave Burundi as quickly as possible.
Dozens of Nkurunziza supporters turned out in the Kamenge area of the capital to celebrate his return, blowing whistles and carrying balloons with the ruling party colors.
Supporter Aloys Ntabankana said they were happy over Nkurunziza’s return, and he decried those who tried to oust him.
“The thing they wanted to do in Burundi would have sunk Burundi into chaos. It would have been a civil war. People would have died because of the coup against Nkurunziza,” he said.
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