High-Ranked Burundi Coup Leaders Arrested

Local Editor

Three leaders of a failed coup against Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza had been arrested, his spokesman said. However coup leader Gen Godefroid Niyombare was "still on the run".

After Thursday's heavy fighting for control of the state radio headquarters and frequent gunfire in the capital, the streets of Bujumbura were quiet on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, one police general and two army generals were arrested "for involvement in the aborted coup," the presidential spokesman said, adding one of them was former Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye.

Earlier, Gen Niyombare said that he and his followers were going to surrender, adding: "I hope they won't kill us".

Furthermore, president Pierre Nkurunziza had tweeted he was back home. He was in Tanzania when the coup attempt against his bid to seek a third term was launched.

He was expected to make a national address.

Accordingly, Nkurunziza had returned to face alarming splits in the army and a nation where thousands of protesters in Bujumbura had rallied against his bid for a third term in office. The protesters had celebrated on the streets when the coup was declared.

The unrest had plunged Burundi into its deepest crisis since an ethnically fueled civil war ended in 2005.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team