Former Burundi president Domitien Ndayizeye is seen Bujumbura in this July 16, 2003 file photo. Police arrested Ndayizeye on Monday, apparently in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the tiny central African country's government, a judge said.
(REUTERS/Antony Njuguna)
Former Burundi president arrested over coup plot
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Police arrested Burundi's former President Domitien Ndayizeye on Monday, apparently in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the tiny central African country's government, a judge said.
"Ndayizeye was arrested and jailed and his arrest may be linked to the attempted coup plot," a senior judge, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
Eight suspects, including two former senior government officials and a dissident rebel leader, have already been arrested in connection with the allegations.
Earlier this month, Burundi's government said it had strong evidence the plot's alleged architects had planned to kill President Pierre Nkurunziza and overthrow his government.
Nkurunziza took power last year after a series of polls won by his party, the former rebel Forces for Defense of Democracy (FDD). He said five months ago that three unnamed men were plotting to overthrow him.
His government said it had written plans and recorded phone conversations made by some of the 15 people, including soldiers, it said planned to stage a coup on June 30.
HUSBAND SUMMONED
The alleged plot, a government spokesman said, involved assassinating Nkurunziza and the chairman of his ruling FDD, before dissolving parliament and the senate and taking power.
The spokesman said one of the eight suspects already in custody, Alain Mugabarabona, the former leader of a rebel faction, was the alleged mastermind of the plan.
The director of a local radio station said earlier this month he had proof the alleged plot was invented by the ruling party to crack down on the political opposition.
The government and prosecutors have denied it.
Oda Ndayizeye, the former president's wife, said on Monday she did not know why her husband had been arrested.
"He was summoned to the public prosecutor this afternoon for interrogation. After that I saw the police taking him to prison," she told Reuters.
Diplomats have said the suspected plot and arrests could destabilize Burundi, which is tasting peace for the first time in more than a decade after a civil war killed more than 300,000 people.
Burundi is generally seen as an African success story, but rights watchdogs say its security services still commit abuses.
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