Burundi president reported back home as military coup fails

President Pierre Nkurunziza returned today to his presidential palace in the capital, a spokesman said, after a military coup failed amid weeks of protests over his decision to seek a third term.
Nkurunziza's motorcade drove to Bujumbura from the northern city of Ngozi, where he was greeted by many supporters after returning from Tanzania, said spokesman Gervais Abayeho. The president did not appear in public in the capital but was to address the nation later Friday.
Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, a former intelligence chief, announced Wednesday that Nkurunziza had been relieved of his duties, triggering fierce fighting in the capital between his forces and those loyal to the president. The move came while Nkurunziza was in Tanzania to meet with regional leaders about the political crisis.

Three army generals accused of trying to topple Nkurunziza were arrested after they were found hiding in a house, while another senior security official was caught at the border while trying to flee to Tanzania, Abayeho said. He added that Niyombare remained at large and a manhunt was underway.
Although the streets of Bujumbura were mostly calm, with many businesses in the central district closed, tensions remained high as some residents emerged from their homes again for protests of Nkurunziza's plans for a third term.
Smoke was still billowing from the building housing the Radio Publique Africaine, which was among four popular independent radio stations and a TV station attacked in the fighting.

The national broadcaster that the coup plotters tried to seize was heavily guarded by army personnel, and many police checkpoints were set up along a highway in southern Burundi.