Burundi President Registers To Run For Third Term As Tensions Simmer; Over 50 000 Have Fled Strife-Hit Burundi —UN

Burundi crisis in graphics

Burundi's president registered on Friday to run for a third term, his spokesman said, a move likely to stoke anger among protesters opposing his bid for another five years in office.

Crowds have taken to the streets and clashed with police for almost two weeks, saying Pierre Nkurunziza's plan to run again violates the constitution and a peace deal that ended an ethnically charged civil war in 2005.

The constitutional court ruled this week that he could stand, saying his first term did not count because he was picked by parliament not elected by the people. Critics say the court is biased and have vowed to keep up protests.

The former Hutu rebel-turned-president "just handed in the file", his spokesman Gervais Abayeho told Reuters in a text message.

Saturday is the deadline for candidates to submit applications to the election commission.

Reuters/AFP report:
Nkurunziza's bid for a third term has plunged Burundi into its worst crisis since the civil war that pitted rebels from the ethnic Hutu majority against the then Tutsi-led army and killed about 300,000 people. It is also raising tensions in a region with a history of ethnic conflict.

Demonstrators in the capital have burnt tyres and hurled stones at police, who have fired tear gas, water cannon and, say protesters, live rounds. Police deny shooting.

The streets were calmer on Friday. Local media have reported some protests outside Bujumbura in recent days, but these have not been independently confirmed. The government says the nation outside the capital is calm.

Anshere Nikoyagize, head of rights group Ligue ITEKA, said the death toll since protests erupted on April 26 was 17, including civilians and members of the security forces.

More than 50,000 Burundians have fled in past weeks to neighbouring Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said.

Rwanda, with the same ethnic mix as Burundi, has voiced its concern about the unrest. It was victim of a genocide in 1994 in which about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

Leading opposition figure, Agathon Rwasa, who like Nkurunziza led a Hutu militia in the war, plans to run as an independent.

He said registering "may be a very hard exercise" as the 200 witnesses from across the country needed to support his application might not secure required documentation in time. He said the authorities had created obstacles.

The government has promised a free and fair vote.

Rwasa has called for delay in the May parliamentary poll and June presidential election due to the unrest but said votes should take place before Nkurunziza's term runs out on Aug. 26.

Over 50 000 Have Fled Strife-Hit Burundi —UN

Over 50 000 Burundians have fled their country since the start of political violence in April, the UN refugee agency said on Friday, adding that many more were trying to leave but faced hurdles.

UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said more than 25 000 had crossed into Rwanda, another 7 700 into Tanzania in a week, and 8 000 people had gone to the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"In all these cases women and children, including a large number of unaccompanied children, are in the majority," he said.

A third term bid by Burundi's president has sparked violent demonstrations claiming at least 18 lives and sparking global concern that the central African nation - which endured a brutal 13-year civil war - could lapse into conflict again.

Opposition parties and civil society groups say President Pierre Nkurunziza's third-term bid in elections due in June violates both the constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office, and the accords that in 2006 ended the civil war between Tutsis and Hutus.

Edwards said there were reports of daily violence in Burundi's capital Bujumbura with unrest spreading to the provinces.

"In Rwanda, new arrivals have reported fleeing Burundi because of harassment and intimidation by Imbonerakure youth militants, who paint red marks on homes of people to be targeted," he said, referring to the ruling party's militia.

"Some decided to leave as a precautionary measure, having experienced previous cycles of violence.

"There are also reports of people selling their properties before leaving the country - possibly indicating anticipation of prolonged insecurity," he said.

Edwards also appealed to Burundian authorities to allow people to move freely, saying although the borders were open, those trying to cross over faced many hurdles.

"Many people have experienced difficulties while trying to leave Burundi," he said. 

"Several women have reported threats of rape from armed men, and having to bribe their way through roadblocks. Some have walked for hours through the bush with their children."