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The attempt to overthrow Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has failed, a deputy coup leader said, after a day of fierce fighting between rival army factions.
"Personally, I recognise that our movement has failed," General Cyrille Ndayirukiye told reporters on Thursday.
"We were faced with an overpowering military determination to support the system in power."
The admission of failure came shortly after the presidency announced that Nkurunziza - who was abroad when the coup was declared - had returned.
He was in neighbouring Tanzania for regional talks on Wednesday when powerful general Godefroid Niyombare launched the coup, in a culmination of weeks of violent street protests against the president's bid to seek a third term.
"President Pierre Nkurunziza is now in Burundi," his senior communications adviser Willy Nyamitwe said. "That's all we can say for now because of security."
While the president's return could not be independently verified, a source close to him said the head of state "will sleep in Ngozi in his home province tonight".
The coup attempt had raised fears of a return to widespread violence in the impoverished country, which is still recovering from a 13-year civil war that ended in 2006 and left hundreds of thousands dead.
Earlier on Thursday, 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.


Coup leader admits bid to oust president has failed

Supporters of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza carry his picture as they wait for him to return to the capital, at a street in Bujumbura, Burundi. Photo: Reuters

Burundi's former Defense Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye (centre) points to a direction during a attempted coup in the capital Bujumbura on May 13. Photo: Reuters

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