Military Rulers Close Airport : Ousted Leader Stalled in Kenya in Bid to Return to Burundi

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, overthrown in his absence as president of Burundi, flew to Nairobi from Paris today, trying to make his way home.

But coup leaders closed the airport at Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, and canceled scheduled flights there.

Kenyan authorities refused to say if Bagaza was being allowed to stay in their country or where he might go if he were not. French radio reports said Rwanda, Burundi’s northern neighbor and the next stop on the usual Air France route to Burundi, had barred him entry.

Bagaza earlier had flown to Paris from Quebec, where he was attending a summit of French-speaking nations when the coup was staged in Burundi.

Bagaza’s arrival put officials in Nairobi on the spot. President Daniel arap Moi and his top Foreign Ministry aides were in Finland on an official visit.

Bujumbura Radio announced on Thursday that Maj. Pierre Buyoya had taken power, suspended the constitution and set up a Committee of National Redemption. (Story, Page 6.)

Its only news broadcast today said: “Peace prevails in Burundi. All Burundi citizens are therefore requested to carry on their duties.”

Burundi’s new military rulers have not yet given reasons for overthrowing Bagaza, but their coup came during the approach of parliamentary elections, scheduled for Oct. 23.

Burundi, a tiny nation of 5 million people, is notorious for a 1972 systematic slaughter of the stocky, short Hutu by the tall Tutsi in one of the worst ethnic massacres in independent Africa.