 |
|
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza speaks to the
media after he registered to run for a third five-year term in office, in the
capital Bujumbura, May 8, 2015. (Reuters/Jean Pierre Aime Harerimana)
|
A prominent
Burundi army officer said on Wednesday he was dismissing President Pierre
Nkurunziza, whose bid for a third term in office sparked more than two weeks of
demonstrations by protesters who said he was violating the constitution.
The statement was immediately dismissed as "a
joke" by the president's media adviser.
Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by
Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February, was speaking at a military
barracks to reporters. He was surrounded by several other senior officers in
the army and police.
"Regarding
President Nkurunziza's arrogance and defiance of the international community
which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the
committee for the establishment of the national concord decide: President
Nkurunziza is dismissed, his government is dismissed too," he said.
AP reports:
Meanwhile a police officer opened fire at protesters in
Burundi's capital Wednesday as demonstrations against the president's bid for a
third term heated up, with troops surrounding the national radio station.
The number of casualties, if any, is unknown.
President Pierre Nkurunziza was in the neighboring country of Tanzania for a
conference to end the unrest.
Thousands of people were in the streets of Bujumbura
in one of the largest turnouts in protests over Nkurunziza's bid for a third
term as presidents from East Africa arrived in neighboring Tanzania to discuss
the political turmoil here.
 |
|
A bus burns after being set on fire by demonstrators
in the Ngagara district of Bujumbura, Burundi Tuesday, May 12, 2015. A crowd
who were marching to the funeral of a woman who died in recent protests were
blocked from doing so by police, and the crowd then set fire to a bus and
government car and motorcycle. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza)
|
Police also fired tear gas and water cannons to
repulse protesters trying to enter the central business district of Bujumbura.
A group of women protesters managed to infiltrate the police cordon and entered
the central business district.
An Associated Press journalist was present when a
police officer fired around five single shots at the protesters in Bujumbura.
Nkurunziza has joined other East African Community
leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the Tanzanian city of Dar es
Salaam for a special meeting to discuss the turmoil in Burundi.
Protesters say Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in
June elections is illegal.
At least 15 people have been killed and more than 220
have been injured in the protests, which are now in their third week, according
to Burundi's Red Cross.
The latest violence comes as East African leaders meet
in Tanzania to discuss Burundi. The top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, has also traveled to Dar es Salaam to contribute to the
emergency meeting, according to a statement from the U.S. State Department.
Thomas-Greenfield will express U.S. concern about the
situation in Burundi as well as U.S. support for the Arusha Agreement which
ended Burundi's civil war a decade ago and political dialogue among all parties
to ensure peaceful, credible and inclusive elections in Burundi, the statement
said.
The protests started on April 25 after the ruling
party nominated Nkurunziza to run for re-election in elections set for June.
More than 50,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring
countries fearing violence ahead of the elections, according to the U.N.
refugee agency.
Burundi's
Constitution states a president can be popularly elected to two five-year
terms. Nkurunziza maintains he can run for a third term because parliament
elected him for his first term, leaving him open to be popularly elected to two
terms. 
No comments:
Post a Comment