Bujumbura, Burundi - Burundian students sought refuge from the police at the US embassy Thursday as one of the country's vice presidents announced he had fled to Belgium, escalating a political crisis in the central African nation days before key elections.
Ignoring armed US Marines watching from the roof of the mission in the capital Bujumbura, around 200 students climbed under the gate and over the wall, then sat down inside the compound with their hands raised.
The students sought refuge after police threatened to break up their camp outside the embassy compound where they had been sheltering for a violent weeks-long crackdown, an AFP photographer said.
US Ambassador Dawn Liberi later managed to convince the students to leave peacefully, with some returning to again camp outside the mission.
Bujumbura has been in turmoil since late April, when President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a controversial bid for a third consecutive term, triggering widespread protests and a failed coup attempt.
Two grenade blasts in Bujumbura on Thursday wounded at least eight people, the latest in a string of such attacks since the unrest began.
Parliamentary elections are due to be held on Monday, ahead of the presidential vote on July 15.
On Thursday, diplomats said international mediators had again called for a poll delay, suggesting that the elections all be held on July 31 - arguing that this would give both sides more time to resolve the crisis before Nkurunziza's current mandate expires on August 26. The government, however, has so far rejected demands for a delay.
Nkurunziza launched his presidential election campaign, in front of thousands of cheering loyalists, but his bid was dealt a fresh blow after one of his deputies fled the country and urged him to quit power.
Second vice-president Gervais Rufyikiri told the president in a letter to "put the interests of the Burundian people before your personal interests."
"Withdraw your presidential bid, because it violates the constitution," the letter said.
In an interview from Belgium Rufyikiri told France 24 television he left because he was "not able to continue to support the attitude of the president, his desire to lead the people of Burundi on the path of illegality."
Nkurunziza's re-election bid has been branded by opponents as unconstitutional and a violation of a peace deal that paved the way to end 13 years of civil war in 2006, raising fears that of a return to widespread violence.
AFP
