BURUNDI's new military leader, Maj Pierre Buyoya, yesterday pledged to intensify the bloody civil war against Hutu rebels while trying to convince the international community he is a solid democrat committed to peace.
"The first priority is to restore peace and security for all Burundians. To do so we will take measures to fight against the genocide which is being perpetrated every day," he said. "We will wage an all out war against those who have been killing Burundians. We're going to provide the army with sufficient resources to fight the enemy wherever he comes from.
In a television address after the coup and a press conference, President Buyoya sought to deflect international criticism by claiming he had seized power on Thursday to prevent a putsch by Tutsi extremists who would have plunged the country into a worse conflict.
And he stressed his democratic credentials. Maj Buyoya, a Tutsi who seized power once before in 1987, organised the country's first free vote six years later. It led to the election of Mr Melchior Ndadaye, Burundi's first Hutu president. He was assassinated by the army within months, sparking the civil war.
"We hear coups are no longer acceptable to change situations. I fully understand this principle because, as everyone knows, I am among those who fought for democracy in Burundi," Maj Buyoya said. "But I'm not one of those who thinks that for the sake of democracy we can let people die. We need to be pragmatic in order to save people."
The international community appeared no closer to deciding what to do about the coup. The secretary general of the Organisation of African Unity, Mr Salim Ahmed Salim, threatened to use force but did not say where the troops would come from.
The US said it still recognises the deposed Hutu president who sought shelter in the US ambassador's residence. But after months of insisting that it would not recognise any government that came to power by force in Burundi, the US ambassador met President Buyoya for the second time in two days yesterday.
Maj Buyoya's statements offered little prospect of an early end to the war which has claimed the lives an estimated 150,000 people, most of them civilians at the hands of Hutu rebels or the Tutsi army.
"We will have a frank and open discussion with anybody who renounces genocide, war and puts down their weapons. We will negotiate with those who stop fighting if they give up their ideology of genocide, he said.
Hutu rebels, who accuse the army of pursuing genocide against the Hutu population, have said they will call a halt to the fighting only if the military withdraws to its barracks and reinstates majority rule.
Burundi's first Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, came to power on a radical programme to promote the long oppressed Hutu majority. Within months he was murdered by the army, heralding three years of civil war.
While Maj Buyoya yesterday promised to appoint a parliament representative of all interests he made no mention of specific policies nor did he say how long he intends to remain in office.
The president's statements failed to convince Hutu members of the deposed government such as the former foreign minister, Mr Venerand Bakevyumusaya, who is under German diplomatic protection.
. The US said yesterday it was suspending its development aid programme in Niger in protest at the conduct of presidential elections of which General Ibrahim Bare Mainassara was declared the winner.