Burkina Faso coup leader expected to give up power Wednesday

A reporter for VOA in Ouagadougou, Emilie Iob, said the streets of the capital emptied out as word spread that the army was coming.

In this photo taken on Saturday, September 19, 2015, Gen. Gilbert Diendere, who was named leader of Burkina Faso on Thursday, speak to media in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

In a statement, ECOWAS said it planned to reinstate and demonstrate solidarity with the interim president Michel Kafando, who was kidnapped last Wednesday along with his interim Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida before he was released on Friday.

However, coup leaders have named the Presidential Guard’s General Diendere the new head of the transitional council.

– The delegations of leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) due to attend the reinstatement of Michel Kafando as president of transition in Burkina Faso, are beginning to arrive in the country on Wednesday morning, APA reports.

The head of protocol for the presidency, present at the airport, told Reuters that an official ceremony during which power would be handed back to the transitional authorities was scheduled for later on Wednesday.

But the proposal was met with widespread scepticism before any final draft even saw the light.

On Tuesday night, the putschists and loyalist forces who had threatened to confront each other, signed a five-point agreement ending hostilities between them.

“In my opinion the heroes of Burkina Faso are the republican army who came to protect the protesters while putting pressure on the junta”, said Philippe Hugon, Africa analyst for the French Institute for worldwide and Strategic Affairs.

Prompting fears of possible conflict, Gen. Diendere had initially responded by saying his troops were “prepared to defend themselves”.

“We do not want to fight but ultimately we will defend ourselves”, Diendere had warned. “There is no point in spilling blood or causing massacres”.

The ECOWAS leaders did not mention an amnesty for the coup leaders nor whether supporters of ousted President Compaore would be allowed to participate in the upcoming polls, as they had previously demanded.

“I call on the population of Burkina Faso to remain calm and to have confidence in the national armed forces”, army chief General Pingrenoma Zagre said.

The coup has been condemned by the United States, former colonial power France and the UN.