Burkina Faso prime minister released as soldiers arrive

Frenchy ambassador Gilles Thibault said on Twitter that President Kafando was freed by coup leaders and was now at the “French residence”.

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) is condemning the coup by the presidential guard in Burkina Faso and backing trade unions who are launching an aviation strike tomorrow to protest against it.

“There is a risk of direct confrontation between some elements within the presidential security guard and the loyalist army”, William Assanvo, senior researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, said by phone from the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

The presidential guard is loyal to ousted President Compaore and installed Gen Diendere as the new leader last week.

The protesters, who think the plan is too lenient on the military government, come as Burkina Faso’s army chiefs issued a statement ordering coup soldiers to lay down their arms.

Demonstrators protesting against coup leader General Gilbert Diendere and the ECOWAS deal erected barricades and burned tyres in several neighbourhoods across the capital on Monday.

“They and their families will be protected”.

Gen. Gilbert Diendere, the coup leader, instead said he would hand over power when requested by West African leaders of the regional body known as ECOWAS who met in Nigeria.

The rebellion derailed a transition in Burkina Faso, which had been preparing for an election on October 11 in a vote aimed to restore democracy almost a year after an uprising toppled President Blaise Compaore who held power for 27 years.

The leaders also ‎asked that the general election should be shifted to November.

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, had on Tuesday, hosted a special summit of ECOWAS Heads of State in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

French president Francois Hollande warned coup supporters to lay down their arms and hand over power to civilian authorities or “face all the consequences”.

It was not immediately clear where Diendere was late on Monday.

A police source and a member of Zida’s entourage told AFP that the prime minister, held at the presidential palace since the coup on Wednesday, was allowed to return to his official residence. “We shall barricade everything”, said Adama Traore, an office worker in his 30s, referring to those killed in coup-linked violence.