Senior Burundi army officer says dismisses President Nkurunziza

Pulse Staff 10:25 - 13 May 2015

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza speaks to the media after he registered to run for a third five-year term in office, in the capital Bujumbura, May 8, 2015. REUTERS/Jean Pierre Aime Harerimana

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - A prominent Burundi army officer said on Wednesday he was dismissing President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose bid for a third term in office sparked more than two weeks of demonstrations by protesters who said he was violating the constitution.

The statement was immediately dismissed as "a joke" by the president's media adviser.

Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February, was speaking at a military barracks to reporters. He was surrounded by several other senior officers in the army and police.

"Regarding President Nkurunziza's arrogance and defiance of the international community which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the committee for the establishment of the national concord decide: President Nkurunziza is dismissed, his government is dismissed too," he said.