Read < 1 minute

(Reuters) – Burundi told diplomats on Tuesday to stay neutral in a political crisis sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to stand for a third term, a move that sent protesters onto the streets for three days.

“In such a situation, the Burundi government asks you to observe diplomatic neutrality,” the first deputy president, Propser Bazombanza, told a meeting with ambassadors from the United States, Europe and African nations in Bujumbura.

In his opening address at the same meeting, Foreign Minister Laurent Kavakure said some protest organisers were winning “a lot of sympathy” from some of Burundi’s international partners, without naming them.

The protesters says Nkurunziza’s re-election plan is unconstitutional.