Burundi protesters ignore calls for calm

BUJUMBURA: Street battles and gunfire erupted again in the Burundi capital yesterday as protesters against President Pierre Nkurunziza rejected his calls for calm in the East African nation, an ethnic tinderbox with a long history of civil war and genocide.

Soldiers and police fired tear gas and warning shots in the air as they faced off against scores of young men throwing rocks and burning makeshift barricades in the roads, witnesses said.

More than 20 people have been killed in almost a month of unrest, including a failed coup, and the struggle to stop Nkurunziza seeking a third term risks reopening old wounds between Burundi’s Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.

In a state television address late on Wednesday, Nkurunziza stressed the need for national unity, saying that Burundi’s bloody past – including a civil war that only ended in 2005 after the deaths of 300 000 people – could not be ignored.

The protesters dismissed his words as a charade.

“We don’t consider this a speech for the nation,” said 42-year-old Jean-Claude Gakiza. “Someone who violates the constitution is against Burundians. All we want now is for him to give up his third term.”

Yesterday’s violence followed a night of heavy gunfire in the restive neighbourhood of Musaga, where residents spoke of several hours of running battles between police and gangs of youths.

Other regional leaders from neighbouring countries have called for calm to no avail. South Africa, which played a central role in the 2005 peace, advised the president to indefinitely postpone the June 26 election.

The 51-year-old former sports lecturer argues that his ambitions do not break a two-term limit in the constitution as his first term, in which he was appointed by parliament rather than directly elected, does not count. – Reuters