Burkina Faso Update: Troops Loyal To Government Prepare Attack On Coup Leaders

Burkina, a former French colony, hosts some 200 French special forces.

The coup derailed a transition in Burkina Faso, which had been preparing for an election on October. 11.

Few people ventured out onto the streets of the capital as the deadline set for 10.00 a.m. passed.

There is must opposition to the ECOWAS deal which includes an amnesty for the coup leaders, making analysts warn of more violence.

General Gilbert Diendere on Tuesday called for troops who entered Ouagadougou overnight seeking a surrender by his elite army unit to leave the city, the AFP news agency reported.

There’s a power struggle between parliamentary chiefs and coup leader 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.

Demonstrators took to the streets of Burkina Faso’s capital Monday, burning tires to protest a proposed compromise solution to the country’s deepening political crisis as tensions mounted over military rule.

The country’s leader had been under arrest since Wednesday when soldiers from the powerful presidential guard regiment loyal to ex-president Blaise Compaore detained him and several other state officials. The coup failed to win broad domestic popular support and has received global condemnation.

“I call on the population of Burkina Faso to remain calm and to have confidence in the National Armed Forces who have reaffirmed their unfailing commitment to preserve the unity of the nation”, Gen. Pingrenoma Zagre said in a statement.

This is in stark contradiction to the optimism shown on Saturday by one of the mediators, Benin President Yayi Boni, who suggested the presidential guard might give up power. It was unclear whether the declaration could be implemented in the short term.

“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.

WorldStage Newsonline-The leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) on Tuesday ‎called on the military junta in Burkina-Faso to immediately hand over power to the interim administration. “This will be an open door to end the crisis or we risk loosing an opportunity to conduct a democratic and fair election”, he said.

Military convoys from regional centers drove towards the capital Ouagadougou on Monday, cheered along by residents opposed to last week’s military coup.