UN chief demands Burkina Faso military show restraint

He said that the Presidential Guard is planning “to discuss all that with the concerned actors, notably the political parties and civil society organisations to establish a timetable that allows us to move towards presidential and parliamentary elections”.

Burkina Faso’s new leader is a trusted aide of Compaore’s, General Gilbert Diendere.

But Prime Minister Isaac Zida, also detained Wednesday, was allegedly still under house arrest.

The developments capped a dramatic year in the West African country where President Blaise Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising last October after he tried to prolong his 27-year rule.

In the announcement aired early Thursday on national television and radio, the statement said that the transitional government had been dissolved.

JOSH EARNEST: The United States strongly condemns any attempt to seize power through extra-constitutional means or resolve internal political disagreements using force.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall’s expected in Burkina Faso today as regional mediator.

Large scale protests took place in the Burkina Faso following this on September 17, 2015 and security forces resorted to firing to disperse the crowds.

A Reuters witness said members of the presidential guard beat back demonstrators with batons.

The Chairman of the National Transitional Committee in Burkina Faso, Salif Sy on Thursday described the act of the Presidential Security Regiment as a “coup”, adding that a “ratio of power” has been installed in his country and therefore all the Burkinabe should mobilize accordingly.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that “those responsible for the coup d’état and its consequences must be held accountable”.

Days before the raid in Ouagadougou, a commission had recommended the disbanding of the presidential guard unit, which is loyal to Compaore, the former president.

The junta said it chose to release Kafando after meeting with representatives of the UN, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), France and the United States. He had planned to change the constitution so he could extend his rule.

As Compaore’s personal military chief of staff, Diendere, a towering figure with a bone-crushing grip, was arguably the second most powerful man in Burkina Faso for almost three decades.

At least three people have died in protests after an ally of ex-President Blaise Compaore was named leader.

Diendere’s position also placed him at the centre of an intricate web of cross-border intrigues in one of the world’s most unstable regions.