Burkina Faso coup soldiers ordered to ‘lay down arms’

A delegation of regional mediators said over the weekend there had been a breakthrough and hinted that the transitional government could return. Earlier in the day, the talks had erupted into violence after members of the presidential guard stormed the hotel where they were being held and fought with anti-coup supporters, forcing foreign ambassadors to scramble for cover.

The plan drafted by mediators is supposed to go before the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS in Nigeria on Tuesday, but the military’s announcement Monday appeared to leave little time left for negotiations.

Mr Compaore was ousted during Burkina Faso’s so-called “Black Spring” protests last October, which were widely hailed at the time as an African version of the protests that toppled the likes of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

However, the general now in charge of Burkina Faso did not attend the news conference where the draft agreement was read aloud and it was unclear whether he would abide by the plan that calls for him to step aside until the elections can be organised. “No to military rule!”

The junta has so far failed to gain nationwide traction for its coup, and outside the capital on Sunday, including in the second largest city Bobo-Dioulasso, people opposed to the putsch demonstrated without the interference of security forces.

Paul Sankara, more youthful sibling of the late President Thomas Sankara, said demonstrators at the White House Sunday approached President Barack Obama to request the unlimited restoration of the transitional government drove by Michel Kafando.

The coup leader, who is a long-time close associate of the long-time president, had cited the electoral code prohibiting former ruling party members from running was one of the main reasons for the power grab.

The Chief coup plotter will also be granted amnesty for what some analysts called a “stupid coup”.

Gen Diendere was chief of staff of former President Blaise Compaore, who was deposed in a popular uprising last October. The demonstrators are calling for the immediate removal of the military junta.