Citation
Ndadaye, born March 28, 1953 in a village of the central province of Muramvaya, himself fled to Rwanda during the massacres of 1972 which followed a Hutu revolt.
He returned to Burundi in 1981, but gave up psychology three years later to enter the financial world, becoming a personnel and training officer in a savings and credit institution.
In 1989 he was named an adviser to the rural development minister, then joined the Meridien BIAO, where he was in charge of the loans department when he was catapulted into the presidency.
He had secretly created the FRODEBU in 1986, and saw it legalised under Buyoya's new constitution which legalised a multi-party system in March 1992.
His wife and three children were reported Thursday to have taken refuge in the French embassy in the capital Bujumbura.
While the coup-makers have installed a "committee of national salvation" headed by Francois Ngeze, interior minister Buyoya's government, one of the leading figures in the revolt is reported to be Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, who was overthrown by Buyoya in 1976.
sa/mb/msa AFP AFP
