{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Burundi: Who is in charge now? - National
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Burundi: Who is in charge now?
Smoke rises from several buildings near the port in Bujumbura after a night marked by gunfire and explosions in various areas of the capital yesterday. Photo by AFP
In Summary
Fighting rages on. Nkurunziza loyalists fight on for control as regional spy chiefs meet in Kigali
KAMPALA. The situation in Burundi remains tense as gunshots rang out on Thursday. Forces loyal to Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza were by evening still fighting to remain in control of the national broadcaster and the presidential palace in Bujumbura.
The coup plotters led by Maj Gen Godefroid Niyombare, a former intelligence chief, were in control of some parts of the city but they had lost control of the airport to Nkurunziza loyalists who seem to be having an upper hand.
As the fighting went on, regional military intelligence chiefs were in a crisis meeting in Kigali to devise means of averting a further degeneration of the crisis.
"The heads of State are consulting, the chiefs of armed forces are consulting, and the military intelligence chiefs are consulting," Uganda's State minister for International Affairs Okello Oryem said.
Ugandan military intelligence boss, Brig Charles Bakahumura left for Kigali on Wednesday evening, military sources said.
There were conflicting reports on the whereabouts of President Nkuruzinza. Some reports suggested he flew to Uganda on Wednesday evening, others claimed he could have sneaked into Bujumbura while BBC maintained he was still holed-up in a hotel in Tanzania.
Military sources say the Burundian President arrived at Entebbe airbase yesterday at 8pm and was driven to an unknown location in Kampala.
But minister Oryem said he was not aware of Mr Nkurunziza's presence in Uganda: "I don't have any information that he is in Kampala. But let me consult our intelligence people to give me an update," he said.
The mystery over the whereabouts of Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundi's president, deepened yesterday as Tanzania claimed he was no longer in Dar es Salaam.
BBC reported that Salvator Rweyemamu, spokesman for the Tanzanian president, claimed on Thursday that Mr Nkurunziza flew out of Tanzania on Wednesday and did not return to Dar es Salaam, as it had been previously reported.
Nkurunziza addresses nation
President Nkurunziza addressed the state broadcaster from an unknown location before transmission was cut out. He condemned the attempted coup and said he was ready to forgive any soldier who surrendered. The radio stopped broadcasting after he spoke and gunfire was heard coming from the area of the state broadcasting headquarters.
Mr Nkurinziza has earlier in the morning appealed to the nation to stay calm because he was in control.
editrial@ug.nationmedia.com
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Burundi-charge-now-president/-/688334/2716742/-/1ndfj5z/-/index.html
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