by Our Foreign Desk

BURUNDIAN President Pierre Nkurunziza faced a military coup yesterday as he held talks in neighbouring Tanzania.

Major General Godefroid Niyombare claimed to have “dismissed” the government and the president, whose bid to seek a third term of office has been opposed by weeks of violent protests in which 15 people were killed.

Mr Nkurunziza was attending negotiations in Dar es-Salaam to end the unrest when the military leader declared the government liquidated.

In a statement on Bonesha FM, Gen Niyombare said: “Given the necessity to preserve the country’s integrity … President Pierre Nkurunziza is dismissed from his functions.”

But a government official dismissed the claim as “a joke.”

Troops surrounded the national radio station, but it was not clear whether they, or indeed the rest of the armed forces, supported the coup.

“Regarding President Nkurunziza’s arrogance and defiance of the international community, which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the committee for the establishment of the national concord decided President Nkurunziza is dismissed. His government is dismissed too,” Gen Niyombare told reporters.

The 2006 Arusha agreement ended years of civil war.

Police reportedly abandoned their posts yesterday as coup supporters took to the streets.

Earlier they had used teargas and water cannon to prevent protesters from entering the capital Bujumbura’s central business district.

Mr Nkurunziza has maintained that he can run for a third term because parliament and not the people elected him for his first, which he says doesn’t count towards the limit.