Tanzania will host an emergency summit of the East African Community next week in an attempt to solve the crisis sparked by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to seek a third term in office, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe said Wednesday, according to dpa. The minister made the announcement during a visit by foreign ministers of three EAC countries - Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania - to Bujumbura. Membe said the ministers were on a fact-finding mission to prepare the summit, which will be held on May 13 in Dar es Salaam. He said Nkurunziza had agreed to attend. The EAC comprises Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Burundi's Constitutional Court on Tuesday endorsed Nkurunziza's candidacy in the June 26 elections despite the constitution setting a two-term limit. The vice president of the court, who fled to Rwanda, said the judges had been pressured by the government. "Now that the Constitutional Court has issued a ruling, we came to get reassurance that violence is no longer tolerated, and assurance that the elections will be free, peaceful and fair," Membe said. At least nine people have been killed so far in protests against Nkurunziza's candidacy, and more than 40,000 have fled to Rwanda, Congo and Tanzania. Membe said the summit would discuss repatriation of the refugees and "ways of reducing violence and creating confidence among the people." Protest rallies, meanwhile, continued to be held across the country. In Bujumbura, protesters set up barricades while police fired shots into the air to disperse them.
