Thousands Attend Funeral Of Killed Burundi Opposition Figure

Zedi Feruzi was the head of the opposition party Union for Peace and Development [Citi FM]

Thousands of people in Burundi's capital on Sunday attended the funeral of an opposition leader killed in a drive-by shooting.

Young people singing patriotic songs carried the coffin of politician Zedi Feruzi, stopping traffic as they marched for 90 minutes through Bujumbura, the capital, to a Muslim cemetery.

Feruzi and a body guard were killed Saturday night in a drive-by shooting. Feruzi's killing has caused many of Burundi's opposition figures to go into hiding, saying that those who oppose President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term are not safe.

AP/AFP/Other media report:

Burundi has been rocked by four weeks of street protests, in which at least 20 have died, that started after it was announced Nkurunziza will stand for re-election on June 26. The protests gave rise to an attempted coup on May 13 but army forces loyal to Nkurunziza put down the coup within 48 hours.

Opposition politicians, journalists and civic activists are hiding in Bujumbura, the capital, because they do not feel safe after the killing of Feruzi, another opposition figure Agathon Rwasa told The Associated Press.

"The life of anyone who opposes Pierre Nkurunziza is in danger," said Rwasa. "People are being assassinated here and there."

At least 100,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring countries fearing political violence ahead of the elections.

Four independent radio stations and TV station have been attacked with grenades and at least one has been completely burned, leaving the state-owned media as the only source of information for many Burundians who don't leave in the capital. Some journalists who witnessed the attacks say the perpetrators were government intelligence officials and police.

"I am deeply worried by the extremely tense situation in Burundi. We are receiving alarming messages from human rights defenders and journalists fearing for their safety. I urge the Burundian authorities to ensure their protection and to guarantee that there will be no unlawful reprisals following Wednesday's failed coup," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said last week.

Local Media: Burundi Opposition Figure Shot Dead In Capital

The leader of a Burundi opposition party was killed Saturday by unknown assailants in the nation's capital, Bujumbura, local media reported.

Iwacu, a prominent news organization in Burundi, reported on its website that Zedi Feruzi of the UPD-Zigamibanga party was slain late Saturday in a drive-by shooting in which at least one of his bodyguards was also killed.

Feruzi was outside his house when a car approached and its occupants sprayed him with bullets, according to Iwacu.

His killing, which took place in Bujumbura's Ngangara district, is likely to raise tensions in this Central African country that has been hit by political unrest since the announcement late last month that President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek another term in office.

The U.N. secretary-general condemned the killing and said it threatens to "entrench mistrust and trigger further violence," a statement from Ban Ki-moon's spokesman said.

There have been almost daily street protests in Bujumbura over Nkurunziza's third-term bid, a decision that also sparked a failed move by some senior military officers to oust the president.

At least 20 people have died and 431 people have been wounded in street protests against the president's decision to run in the elections scheduled for June 26.

Protesters say Nkurunziza's bid for a third term is illegal because the constitution only allows for two five-year terms, and some protesters are vowing to stay on the streets until Nkurunziza rescinds his decision to seek a third term.

Nkurunziza maintains he can seek re-election because parliament — not the people — elected him for his first term.

Amid the unrest, the international community has been urging Nkurunziza to delay the elections, and the U.S. has expressed disappointment over Nkurunziza's decision to seek more time in office.

Up to 200,000 Burundians have fled to neighboring countries, citing fears over political violence. Many of them have sought refuge in unsanitary refugee camps in Tanzania, where they also face a cholera outbreak in which more than 30 people have died in recent days. Others have fled to Congo and Rwanda.

Burundi, a poor country which exports mostly coffee and depends heavily on foreign aid, experienced an ethnic-based civil war from 1993 to 2003 which killed at least 250,000 people.

Observers say that, while the current crisis is mostly political, it may boil over into ethnic strife if political violence over the president's third term intensifies.

Nkurunziza, an ethnic Hutu, first came to power in 2005 and was re-elected unopposed in 2010 after an opposition boycott.

Ban's statement encouraged parties in Burundi to pursue a U.N.-led political dialogue that resumed Thursday.

Burundi Activists Suspend Govt Talks As Opposition Figure Killed

Soldiers escort a convoy of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza's party, the CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defense of Democracy, Forces for the Defense of Democracy), during a rally outside Bujumbura on May 23, 2015 ©Carl de Souza (AFP)

Activists in Burundi behind weeks of protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to seek a third term said Sunday they were suspending talks with the government after the murder of an opposition figure.

Zedi Feruzi, the leader of the Union for Peace and Development (UPD), a small Burundian opposition party, was shot dead on Saturday.

The attack risks further fuelling tensions in the capital where a heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government demonstrations has left around 30 dead since late April.

The crisis also sparked a failed coup against President Nkurunziza last week.

Condemning "an awful act", activists said in a statement they were "suspending participation in dialogue with the government".

They also said the murder could have been part of an alleged "plan to physically eliminate" leaders of the campaign against Nkurunziza.

Burundi's crisis, which began in late April after the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to stand again in the June 26 presidential election, deepened last week when a top general staged a failed coup attempt.

Parliamentary polls, initially set for May 26, have been postponed to June 5.

Opposition and rights groups say that Nkurunziza's bid for a third five-year term violates the constitution and conditions of a peace deal that ended a 13-year civil war in 2006.

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian who believes he has divine backing to lead the country, argues that his first term did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly by the people.