Buyoya apparently overthrown in “youth” coup

Burundi President Pierre Buyoya was overthrown in a coup on Wednesday, according to a statement read out over Burundi radio.

The statement, read by an unidentified soldier, said Buyoya, his government and the parliament had been “suspended” and the Front de la jeunesse patriotique [Patriotic Youth Front] had taken over. “The Front de la jeunesse patriotique is the supreme organisation that controls the country,” the radio said. It said the Front was headed by Lieutenant Gaston Ntakirutimana.

Regional analysts noted this was the lowest rank ever to mount a coup in Burundi and showed that the young soldiers fighting on the ground were tired of Buyoya’s policies and the continuing war. The analysts told IRIN they believe there will now be a move to implement the Arusha peace accord, signed last August, which Buyoya had refused to implement until a ceasefire was reached with armed rebel groups battling the government.

Another reason for the takeover was that rebels of the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) had recently been attacking Tutsi strongholds in the central Mwaro province and the young Tutsis fighting in the army had had enough, observers said.

Buyoya is currently out of the country, holding talks in the Gabonese capital Libreville with rebel FDD leader, Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye.