Leaders of the attempted coup in Burundi have been arrested after armed forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza overpowered an attempt by generals to seize power while he was out of the country according to reports in the UK Guardian. The rival groups had battled for control of the Burundi capital after a former intelligence chief launched a violent bid to take charge. While it had been widely reported that the coup to overthrow Nkurunziza had been a success, it sparked widespread unrest when he tried to run for a third term,which was apparently popular with the public, but met with heavy armed opposition from military. A deputy leader of the coup admitted by Thursday night that it had failed. The president, in Tanzania when the uprising was launched, was said to have returned to the country to take charge. On Friday morning the leader of the coup attempt, former intelligence chief General Godefroid Niyombare, told AFP by phone as troops approached him: “We have decided to surrender … I hope they won’t kill us. The coup leaders’ spokesman, Venon Ndabaneze, also spoke to AFP confirming they had decided to surrender. Loyalist troops were arresting him, deputy coup leader Cyrille Ndayirukiye and others, he said. On Thursday heavy gunfire rang out in Bujumbura and it was difficult to determine who was in control of the capital, with periods of relative calm broken by bouts of gunfire in the evening. Five soldiers were reportedly killed in clashes. Late on Thursday a deputy leader of the coup, General Cyrille Ndayirukiye, told AFP: “Personally I recognise that our movement has failed … We were faced with an overpowering military determination to support the system in power.”
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Posted: at 15-05-2015 11:00 AM (9 years ago) | Gistmaniac
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