Burundian President Pierre Buyoya has warned against a coup ahead of the signing of a peace agreement on 28 August aimed at ending the country’s civil war. “Those who want to overthrow the government so that the president will not be there to sign the peace agreement should know that their actions will come to no good,” the Associated Press quoted him as telling civil servants and local administrators on Monday. A regional analyst told IRIN the comments were a remarkable admission of Buyoya’s “vulnerability”, and showed he was not in total control of hardliners within the army. Buyoya was apparently directing the warning at radical Tutsi opposition parties that are said to be behind recent anti-government protests aimed at stopping the signing of the peace accord.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article