Burundi President Makes First Appearance Since Failed Coup

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has made his first public appearance since a coup attempt last week.
He greeted journalists and spoke about the threat of al-Shabab Sunday at the presidential palace in the capital, Bujumbura.
In a radio address Friday, President Nkurunziza thanked his security forces for stopping the military coup against his government. He also warned protesters to stop their demonstrations against his decision to seek a third term.

Activists, however, have called for more demonstrations against the president and his decision to seek a third term, which they say is unconstitutional.
The president and his supporters argue that a third term is permitted because he was elected by parliament, not voters, for his first five-year term in 2005. Burundi's constitutional court has sided with the president.
The U.S. has said Nkurunziza should not stand for a third term. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield told VOA that the decision has caused instability in the country.
The U.S. State Department has called for Nkurunziza "to condemn and stop the use of violence by the police and the ruling party's Imbonerakure youth militias against those who participated in protests against a third term." State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said the U.S. was taking steps to impose visa ineligibilities on those responsible for violence.
A Burundian presidential spokesman told VOA's Gabe Joselow that the leader of the coup attempt, General Godefroid Niyombare, remains at large and is believed to be in hiding.
President Nkurunziza was in Tanzania for a regional summit on Burundi's political situation when General Niyombare announced the coup attempt Wednesday. The move followed weeks of unrest after President Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term. Violence surrounding the protests left at least 14 people dead and more than 200 wounded.
The United Nations said more than 105,000 people have fled Burundi to Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo since Burundi's unrest began three weeks ago.
A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, Karin de Gruijl, said the living conditions for those fleeing was extremely dire in some areas. He said more than 50,000 Burundians were now living on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, on the border with Tanzania, and the lack of clean drinking water, latrines and shelter there was acute.
Some material for this report came from AP and AFP.

Source: VOA