Burkina Faso army reaches capital, vows to disarm coup leaders

Negotiations between army chiefs and the presidential guard have broken down, a senior military officer said.

They arrested interim President Michel Kafando last Wednesday, installing Gen Diendere as new leader the following day.

Zida was detained last week along with interim President Michel Kafando and two ministers as the presidential guard announced it was seizing power.

Soldiers from around Burkina Faso have poured into the capital as the military vowed to disarm the mutinous presidential guard behind a coup.

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

Three people died of gunshot wounds and at least 60 were injured on Thursday, Robert Sangare, managing director of Yalgado Ouedraogo, the largest medical facility in the capital, said by phone. “We will apply what the heads of state decide at the ECOWAS level”, Diendere said.

Adesina said Buhari condemned the “brazen contravention of the constitution and transitional charter of Burkina Faso by elements of the Presidential Guard under the leadership of General Gilbert Diendere”.

Burkina Faso’s interim prime minister Yacouba Isaac Zida, who had been captured during last week’s coup, was released early Tuesday, according to his aide-de-damp.

A transitional government was established in Burkina Faso in 2014 to run the country until presidential elections took place in October 11, 2015.

West African mediators want interim President Michael Kafando to be reinstalled until elections can be held. On Monday, the country’s military called on the coup forces to hand in their arms to barracks in exchange for safety guarantees. However the proposal, which included an amnesty for the coup leaders, was swiftly rejected by civil society and opposition politicians. Diendere said the polls were “biased”, because supporters of former president Blaise Compaore were barred from running. Compaore was president for 27 years, and his bid to further extend his rule prompted massive street protests that led to his ouster.

Sall, chairman of the regional ECOWAS body, was to meet Saturday morning with members of the political party of Burkina Faso’s ex-President Blaise Compaore, the longtime ruler whose ouster in an uprising past year gave way to a political transition to guide the country to elections next month.

The streets of Ouagadougou remained tense Monday, and many demonstrators said they felt the ECOWAS compromise plan was too lenient on the junta. “Down with Ecowas!” they cried, as well as shouting slogans hostile to the presidential guard and its commander.