Burundi presidency says leader has returned after 'failed' coup attempt

Burundian leader Pierre Nkurunziza has returned to the country, his office said May 14, as a deputy coup leader said the attempt to overthrow the president had failed after fierce battles between rival army factions.

"President Pierre Nkurunziza is now in Burundi," his senior communications advisor Willy Nyamitwe told AFP. "That's all we can say for the now because of security reasons."  

Nkurunziza was in neighbouring Tanzania for regional talks May 13 when the coup was announced by top general Godefroid Niyombare, capping weeks of violent protests against the president's bid to seek a third term.
 
The president's return could not be independently verified however and his precise whereabouts remained unclear May 14 night.
 
But the announcement that he was back in the country was swiftly followed by deputy coup leader General Cyrille Ndayirukiye's admission that the putsch had been a failure.
 
"Personally, I recognise that our movement has failed," Ndayirukiye told AFP.    

"We were faced with an overpowering military determination to support the system in power."  

Earlier in the day, loyalist troops said they had fought off two major attacks by rival soldiers in an intense battle for control over the strategically important state radio office.
 
The bodies of three soldiers were seen by an AFP journalist lying in the street near the scene of the clashes, the first apparent sign of casualties in the coup saga.
 
By mid-afternoon, station director Jerome Nzokirantevye said it was "loyalist soldiers who are in control."  

A senior police official confirmed the information and said late May 14 that the pro-coup troops were "in disarray" after their assault on the RTNB...