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1 killed in more protests in Burundi: witness

Xinhua, May 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

One Burundi protester was killed and another one was seriously wounded on Sunday morning as protests against Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza's re- election resumed in the capital Bujumbura, witnesses said.

Jean Claude Nizigiyimana, a witness who claimed to have seen the incident, said police agents backed by soldiers fired live bullets against protesters who were supervising barricades set up at main roads in the southern Musaga neighborhood.

Two protesters were also arrested, said Nizigiyimana.

Police agents and soldiers had brought vehicles to remove barricades, said witnesses to Xinhua, adding protests also took place in other neighborhoods including Nyakabiga, Cibitoke and Mutakura.

On Friday evening, protesters in Nyakabiga were also shot at while they were resisting removing the barricades.

On Saturday, the Burundian National Security Council gave 48 hours to protesters to halt their demonstrations.

However, organizers of protests, including some opposition parties and some civil society organizations, said demonstrations will continue until Nkurunziza gives up a third term.

"Protests will continue until President Nkurunziza gives up his third term because it is a violation of the National Constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement," Pacifique Nininahazwe, Burundian civil society leader said on Saturday afternoon.

Protests had been suspended on Saturday to allow the burial "in dignity and serenity" of protesters killed during demonstrations this week.

Protests convened by the opposition and the civil society kicked off in several neighborhoods of the capital Bujumbura on April 26, one day after the Burundian ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), nominated Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the presidential election due on June 26.

The opposition and the civil society, however, argue that Nkurunziza's third term is a violation of the Burundian constitution and the 2000 Arusha Agreement that provide two terms of five years each for a president of Burundi.

On Tuesday, despite protests, the Burundian constitutional court passed the candidacy of Nkurunziza for another term, explaining that the 2005-2010 term should not be counted as a term because he was elected by the parliament and not directly in universal suffrage.

In a message to the nation on Wednesday evening, Nkurunziza called on protesters to stop their demonstrations and pledged that if he is elected in the upcoming presidential election, it will be his "last" term.

Burundi is this year to hold general elections between May 26 and August 24, with the presidential election due on June 26. Endi