Burundi president plays football amid protests

(MENAFN- Arab News) BUJUMBURA: Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza was photographed playing football as protests continued over his bid to run for a third term in office.
Nkurunziza played in his daily kickabout with friends in the capital Bujumbura.
Protesters battled police on Thursday in violent anti-government demonstrations as security forces tried to stem unrest a week after a failed coup.
At least two protesters were shot dead and eight were wounded in clashes with police in Bujumbura the Red Cross said the latest victims of the unrest.
Heavy gunfire was heard all day in suburbs of the capital.
The crisis which began in late April after the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to stand again in the June presidential election deepened last week when a top general staged a failed coup attempt.
Newly-appointed Defence Minister Emmanuel Ntahonvukiye called for unity in the wake of the abortive coup which was crushed by loyalist forces after street fighting between rival factions.
'The survival of Burundi as a nation depends on the cohesion of the army' a military statement read warning that should the army splinter it would result in a situation seen in war-torn Somalia.
Nkurunziza in an address to the nation late Wednesday said most of the central African country was secure and that the upcoming parliamentary and presidential votes would be peaceful.
'Peace and security reign over 99.9 percent of Burundian territory and population are going about normally in their activities' Nkurunziza said in a broadcast on state radio. Shooting was heard overnight in the flashpoint Musaga district of the capital where police have vowed to end protests.
And hundreds of protesters returned to the streets Thursday as they have done for almost a month chanting anti-government slogans and singing.
Most of the demonstrations took place in Bujumbura's suburbs. One group of protesters briefly reached the symbolic city centre only to be swiftly chased away by the police.
'It is our right to demonstrate our opposition to a third term of Nkurunziza and we will continue to shout loudly despite the police' yelled Sandrine a 20-year-old demonstrator.
Opposition and rights groups say that Nkurunziza's bid for a third five-year term violates the constitution and the terms of the peace deal that brought an end to a 13-year civil war in 2006.
Nkurunziza a former rebel leader and born-again Christian who believes he has divine backing to lead argues his first term did not count as he was elected by parliament not directly by the people.