W. African bloc flies envoys to Burkina Faso after latest coup

W. African bloc flies envoys to Burkina Faso after latest coup

Burkina Faso's new self-proclaimed leader is a 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore
Burkina Faso's new self-proclaimed leader is a 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore. Photo: - / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Envoys from the West African bloc ECOWAS were heading to Burkina Faso on Monday after the jihadist-torn Sahel state underwent its second military coup in less than nine months.

The streets of the capital Ouagadougou were quiet after a two-day showdown between military rivals jousting for power and a spurt of violent anti-French protests.

The country's latest self-proclaimed leader is a 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore, who seized the helm from Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, in power since January.

Religious and community mediators said Damiba on Sunday had agreed to step down, two days after Traore declared he had been forced out. Regional diplomats said he had fled to Togo.

ECOWAS -- the Economic Community of West African States -- issued a statement welcoming "a peaceful settlement of their differences" and announced it would dispatch a delegation to Ouagadougou on Monday.

Read also

Top Al-Shabaab leader killed in joint operation: Somalia govt

The team is headed by Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister Suzi Carla Barbosa and includes former Niger president Mahamadou Issoufou, the bloc's mediator on Burkina Faso.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoy reading our stories? Join YEN.com.gh's Telegram channel for more!

Protest aftermath: The damaged entrance to the French embassy in Ouagadougou
Protest aftermath: The damaged entrance to the French embassy in Ouagadougou. Photo: Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP
Source: AFP

Burkina is struggling with a seven-year-old jihadist campaign that has claimed thousands of lives, forced nearly two million people to flee their homes and left more than a third of the country outside government control.

Anger within the army at failures to roll back the bloody insurgency prompted Damiba's coup against the elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, on January 24.

Appointing himself transitional president, Damiba vowed to make security the country's top priority -- but after a brief lull, attacks revived, claiming hundreds of lives.

The mounting toll was cited by Traore as justification for the latest coup.

Damiba on Sunday set "seven conditions" for stepping down, the religious and community leaders said.

Read also

Unrest simmers in Burkina Faso after reported coup

These included security guarantees for him and his allies in the military; and that the pledge he had given to ECOWAS for a return to civilian rule within two years be respected.

Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso. Photo: Sophie RAMIS / AFP
Source: AFP

Speaking on the French radio station RFI on Monday, Traore spelt out that he would uphold the July 2024 timeline for restoring civilian rule.

This could even happen "before that date" if conditions were right, Traore said.

He said that he would simply carry out "day-to-day business" until a new civilian or military transitional president was appointed.

The appointment would be made by a national forum gathering political and social representatives, the pro-Traore faction in the military said on Sunday.

Traore told RFI that this meeting would take place "well before the end of the year."

Analysts said that his position, if maintained, would be likely to satisfy ECOWAS, which has suffered five coups in three of its 15 members since August 2020.

Read also

Brazil votes in Bolsonaro-Lula showdown

Anti-French protests

Burkina's latest bout of turmoil coincided with a surge of violent protests against France, the former colonial power and ally in Burkina's struggle against the jihadists.

Pro-Traore officers accused Damiba of having taken refuge at a French military base in order to plot a "counter-offensive" -- charges he and France denied.

On Sunday, security forces fired tear gas from inside the French embassy in Ouagadougou to disperse angry protesters, and the French Institute, which promotes French culture, was also attacked.

The French foreign ministry said the attack was carried out by "hostile demonstrators manipulated by a disinformation campaign against us".

Pro-Moscow: Demonstrators waving a Russian flag stand atop a UN peacekeepers' vehicle in Ouagadougou on Sunday
Pro-Moscow: Demonstrators waving a Russian flag stand atop a UN peacekeepers' vehicle in Ouagadougou on Sunday. Photo: - / AFP
Source: AFP

Traore on Monday condemned what he called "acts of violence and vandalism" against those buildings and urged "calm and restraint."

Damiba's claimed ouster on Friday was announced just hours after a protest rally that also demanded the end of France's military presence in the Sahel and closer military cooperation with Russia. Some of the protestors carried Russian flags.

Read also

Chad to further postpone transition to democracy

Russian paramilitaries are supporting regimes in Mali and Central African Republic -- sidelining France, those countries' traditional backer.

But Russian troops have also been tarred with accusations of massacres and other abuses.

On Monday, the Kremlin spokesman said Russia wanted the situation in Burkina "to normalise as soon as possible, for complete order to be ensured in the country and for a return to the framework of legitimacy as soon as possible."

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.