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KIGALI, Oct 27 (AFP) - Special U.N. envoy James Jonah arrived in troubled Burundi on Wednesday as senior officers there were said to have won back control of rampaging troops.
The Belgian foreign ministry in Brussels said it had information that the military high command in the capital Bujumbura had apparently won back control of the army and had restored order among more than 60 percent of its soldiers. A ministry spokesman said the town was calm, with many shops closed.
Jonah, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, flew in from Somalia, by way of Nairobi. Airport control tower officials here in neighbouring Rwanda said Bujumbura's international airport remained closed to commercial flights but was opened to let Jonah land.
Burundi's Foreign Minister Sylvestre Nibantunganya, one of the ministers hiding out in western embassies in Bujumbura after last week's coup in which President Melchior Ndadaye was murdered, said Jonah would be given a clear message when he met the surviving government members.
"There absolutely must be a force deployed to protect our democratically elected institutions and their representatives," the minister said in a telephone interview from Kigali.
Two Burundi ministers have taken refuge here, Health Minister Jean Minani and Justice Minister Fulgence Dwima Bakana. They were expected to hold talks on Wednesday with Organisation of African Unity secretary-general Salim Ahmed Salim, OAU sources said.
Salim is here officially in connection with the August peace agreement signed by the Rwandan government and rebels of the Patriotic Front.
Also expected here on Wednesday en route for Burundi was Said Rifaat, an envoy of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak who is current OAU chairman.
more AFP AFP
