Burundi army officer says Nkurunziza, govt dismissed

What you need to know:

Maj-Gen Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February, announced the removal of the president.
The presidential office quickly rubbished the declaration Nkurunziza and his government were dismissed as “a joke”.
More than 20 people have been killed since street protests erupted in the central African state more than two weeks ago.

A senior Burundi army officer has said he and other senior officers were dismissing Pierre Nkurunziza as president for seeking re-election.

Major General Godefroid Niyombare said on Wednesday he was working with civil society, religious leaders and politicians to form a transitional government.

Maj-Gen Niyombare, who said Nkurunziza had violated the constitution by seeking a third term, made the comments in a statement to reporters at a military barracks. His remarks were later broadcast on local radio stations.

Soldiers surrounded the state broadcaster building in the capital.

The presidential office quickly rubbished the declaration as “a joke”. Maj-Gen Niyombare was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February.

He made his declaration to reporters at a military barracks in the capital, while the president was in Tanzania at an African summit on the crisis.

Niyombare, also a former ambassador to Kenya, was surrounded by several other senior officers in the army and police, including a former defence minister.

“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 decide: Nkurunziza is dismissed, his government is dismissed too,” he said.

More than 20 people have been killed since street protests erupted in the central African state more than two weeks ago, according to activists.

The demonstrators say Nkurunziza’s bid for another five years in office violates a two-term limit in the constitution and the Arusha peace deal, which ended an ethnically fuelled civil war in 2005 that killed 300,000.

Western donors, including the United States, have criticized Nkurunziza’s decision to stand again.

East African leaders and a top official from continental heavyweight South Africa were meeting in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam to discuss the crisis that has already spilled over into a region with a history of ethnic conflict.

More than 50,000 people have fled to neighbouring states. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said the crisis was heading toward a “worst case scenario” that could see 300,000 people fleeing, some to other parts of Burundi and others abroad.