MR Pierre Buyoya seized Burundi's presidency yesterday for the second time in a decade, leading a revolt by the Tutsi led army to oust the Hutu incumbent, President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
The Tutsi dominated Burundian army installed Mr Buyoya as head of state after announcing Mr Ntibantunganya's de facto resignation.
The Hutu president late on Tuesday fled to the residence of the US ambassador to Burundi in fear of his life after the mainly Tutsi led opposition withdrew its support.
A career army officer who first seized power in 1987 at the age of 38, Mr Buyoya belongs to the Tutsi minority, which controls the central African nation's army. He led the country until he lost power in 1993 in the Country's first multi party presidential elections.
In 1979, he joined the central committee of the Unity for National Progress (Uprona), at the time Burundi's sole party. In September 1984, he was attached to Burundian army headquarters. He was a popular figure in the army, with a reputation for rigour and determination.
In September 1987, he seized power for the first time, overthrowing President Jean Baptiste Bagaza, another Tutsi officer. He became the head of a committee for National Salvation, and was designated president six days later, vowing to "build a modern Buruno," with "profound changes".
However, apart from adopting a more liberal approach to religious freedom, his regime differed little from that of his predecessor, and was still faced with the problem of the majority Hutu population's claim for a greater role in conducting the divisive nation's affairs.
Then, following the reciprocal massacres of Hutus and Tutsis in August 1988 in northern Burundi, in which an estimated 20,000 people died, Mr Buyoya created the Commission for National Unity and appointed a majority Hutu government. He also decreed that the two ethnic groups be equally represented within the central committee of Uprona.
He took Burundi on its first step towards multi party democracy, holding the first pluralist presidential elections in June 1993, but was heavily defeated by Mr Melchior Ndadye, the country's first elected Hutu president.