Burundi thwarts coup attempt
2001-07-23 18:47
Bujumbura - Authorities in war-torn Burundi foiled an overnight attempted coup and were chasing its perpetrators in the north of the country on Monday, the defence minister said.
"A group of rebel soldiers who refuse to take the issue of peace seriously tried once again to stop the peace process by force," Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye said on state radio.
Two soldiers were reportedly killed during the attempt, which took place amid protracted exchanges of gunfire and grenade explosions.
After failing to storm a Bujumbura prison and spring detained soldiers who had tried to overthrow the government in April, about 100 would-be coup-makers, armed with a variety of weapons including rocket launchers, requisitioned some 30 vehicles and took the main road north, the minister later told a news conference, adding that regular troops were in pursuit.
Witnesses told AFP that the convoy, comprising soldiers, officer cadets and university students, passed unchallenged through at least five military checkpoints before reaching the northern town of Kayanza, close to the Rwandan border, before turning east.
The defence minister identified the ringleader of the mutineers as one Lieutenant Ndikuriyo.
A senior aide of President Pierre Buyoya, Libere Hicuburundi, was taken hostage by the mutinous officer cadets while on his way to work, according to army spokesperson Augustin Nzabampema.
Other military sources said two other army officers, former chief of staff Michel Mibarurwa and Philippe Ndayishimimiye, were with the convoy, but could not say whether they were there willingly or not.
The defence minister denied this report. He said another officer, Kamenyero, had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt and was being questioned.
News of the attempted coup came as African heads of state, including Buyoya, prepared to meet in Arusha, Tanzania, to push ahead with a protracted process aimed at ending eight years of civil war in Burundi.
In Arusha, Buyoya's spokesperson, Apollinaire Guhungu, said of the coup attempt: "It was not very serious. ... There are no more fightings now in Bujumbura.
"Buyoya is staying in Arusha for the summit. He might leave tonight or tomorrow morning."
Explosions heard in the capital
Gunshots and grenade explosions were heard through the night in several areas of the capital, including near the national radio station.
Witnesses told AFP that the shooting appeared to be centred in predominantly Tutsi districts near the national radio station.
Buyoya is a Tutsi.
Stick-brandishing youths in these districts showed their support for the coup by trying in vain to stop people going to work, in some cases setting up roadblocks, prompting troops to intervene.
In mid-April, the army put down a coup attempt by young soldiers.
The Arusha summit, meanwhile, was expected to seal a controversial arrangement whereby Buyoya would remain in power for the first half of a three-year transition government provided for in an accord signed last year.
Although mediator Nelson Mandela reiterated in Arusha on Monday that this arrangement would go ahead, several pro-Tutsi political parties involved in the peace process are strongly opposed to it and want to see another Tutsi candidate take the job of interim president.
More than 200 000 people have been killed since 1993 in the war, which pits two Hutu rebel groups against a government and army led by the small but dominant Tutsi minority.
The rebels are not involved in the Arusha peace process and are still fighting on the ground, although they have been holding separate talks with a view to a cease-fire. - AFP
- SAPA