JOHANNESBURG – Just over a week after a failed coup, the crisis in Burundi deteriorated sharply with escalating violence and the weekend assassination of an opposition leader.
Thousands of activists carrying placards Sunday mourned Zedi Feruzi, leader of the small Union for Peace and Development party. He was buried during the day as opponents of President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term in office vowed to continue protests.
Observers fear the small central African nation is sliding dangerously toward another civil war, with Nkurunziza determined to cling to power despite widespread opposition. The country emerged from more than a decade of war in 2006.
Nkurunziza says his bid for a third term doesn’t violate the constitution, as opponents allege. He says he is entitled to one more term in office because he was elected by parliament, not the public, the first time around.
Feruzi was shot by men wearing uniforms similar to those of the presidential guard who pulled up in a car, opened fire and sped off, Burundi radio journalist Jean-Baptiste Bireha told news agencies. He was with Feruzi and witnessed the attack.
The killing sent waves of shock through the nation’s opposition, with fears that other opponents of the third-term bid could be targeted in coming weeks.
Feruzi’s assassination came after a grenade attack Friday in the central market in the capital, Bujumbura, that killed two people and injured dozens. Dozens more have been killed in recent weeks when police opened fire on protesters demonstrating against the third term.
Nkurunziza is pressing ahead with the presidential election next month, ignoring international pressure, including some from African leaders, calling on him to delay a vote until the country is peaceful and stable. U.S. and African Union leaders say his bid flies in the face of the constitution.
The presidential office expressed shock at Feruzi’s killing and denied any role. Police blamed Friday’s grenade attack on protesters opposed to Nkurunziza’s plans, but organizers reject the accusation.
Nkurunziza was in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam on May 13 to discuss the crisis generated by his election plans with African leaders when Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare announced the president had been dismissed to usher in peaceful elections. After brief fighting in the capital for the control of the state-owned radio and television station, the coup was defeated.
Niyombare escaped but 17 other officials have appeared in court on charges of plotting the coup.
At least 100,000 people have fled the violence in Burundi for neighboring countries since the crisis began.
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