Burundi coup leaders surrender

The leaders of a coup in Burundi surrendered on Friday following several arrests that occurred hours after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he was back in the country.

General Godefroid Niyombare had tried to take power after weeks of protests sparked by Mr Nkurunziza's decision to prolong his rule by a third term, violating the terms of a peace deal to end a 12-year ethnic civil war in which 300,000 people were killed.

"We have decided to surrender," Gen Niyombare told AFP by telephone. "I hope they won't kill us."

The arrests follow weeks of popular street protests against Mr Nkurunziza's proposed third term and a day of heavy battling for control of the capital Bujumbura, in which pro-government forces managed to keep control of most key institutions such as the presidency and the national broadcasting house.

Although Gen Niyombare was a senior, popular figure at the heart of the ruling party, the coup leaders failed to secure wholesale support from the rest of military, which has emerged under the peace agreement as one of the more respected institutions.

It remains unclear whether elections due to start later this month will go ahead, with legislative polls due on May 26 and presidentials on June 26.

Burundi has a long history of coups and ethnic conflict, and more than 70,000 people fled the country in recent weeks, alarming neighbours, unprepared for refugees.

Both the African Union and East African Community, the regional bloc of which Burundi is a member, had condemned the coup and also urged the president to delay the election schedule to defuse tensions.

Along with the US, they say his intention to stand again is unconstitutional and undermines the terms of the peace deal that helped end the war.

Attorneys general from the EAC are due to meet next week to study whether Mr Nkurunziza may legitimately stand again. A Burundi constitutional court last week gave the president to go ahead to stand again, but the decision was made under duress: one judge fled the country the day before the ruling.

The Presidency said Mr Nkurunziza, who was in Tanzania for a regional crisis meeting on his country at the time of the coup, had returned home and would address the nation shortly.

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