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BBC Africa is reporting that Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza says he has returned to the country and they are in control of key points, a day after a coup attempt. President Nkurunziza made the announcement via Twitter. The author writes:
“Mr. Nkurunziza had been in Tanzania when the coup began on Wednesday. Protests began in Burundi on 26 April when Mr. Nkurunziza announced he was seeking a third term, a move his opponents said was unconstitutional. The coup was launched by Maj Gen Godefroid Niyombare, a former ally of the president, on Wednesday after Mr. Nkurunziza traveled to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, to attend a summit on the crisis. There were no new statements from Gen. Niyombare on Thursday but a spokesman for the coup forces, Gen. Cyrille Ndayirukiye, told Agence France-Presse the uprising had failed. ‘We faced an overpowering military determination to support the system in power,’ he said.”
Burundian presidential spokesman Willy Nyamitwe told the BBC on Thursday that the president had left Tanzania and was “safe and sound”.
To see a timeline of events regarding the coup, click here. Read more about this story on BBC Africa.
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of the award-winning news blog, the Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.
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