Burkina Faso’s interim president Michel Kafando voiced reservations today about a regional proposal to end the crisis sparked by last week’s military coup in the west African country.
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A statement signed by several military chiefs earlier said the regular armed forces were seeking the surrender of the presidential guard, known as the RSP, “without bloodshed”.
In the capital Ouagadougou on the mediation mission, said he planned to submit the proposal to a summit of heads of state in Nigeria on Tuesday.
The statement attributed to the heads of the Armed National Forces said that troops aim to remove the coup leaders from power without spilling blood.
The message to Burkina Faso’s coup leaders on Monday could not have been clearer: Protesters burned tires and set up roadblocks as they rejected a deal that would give amnesty to those who had ousted a transitional government just weeks before an election.
There have been series of protests in the wake of the coup, and reports show that this protests have led to violent clashes with over ten people dead and several scores injured.
That was one of the key conditions of a draft agreement that resulted from the weekend negotiations with regional mediators, but it had been unclear until his announcement whether the junta would abide by those terms.
ITF general secretary Steve Cotton said: “We applaud the bravery and commitment of our brother and sister trade unionists in Burkina Faso, as they act against this reckless and aggressive military action”.
He also announced the suspension of financial and military aid to Ouagadougou until the transitional government was restored.
The coup leaders are Compaore loyalists and oppose the transitional government’splans to dissolve the Regiment of Presidential Security, which began as presidential bodyguards and grew into a 1,300-strong military unit that answers directly to Burkina Faso’s president.
The streets of Ouagadougou remained tense Monday, and many demonstrators said they felt the ECOWAS compromise plan was too lenient on the junta.
An AFP journalist at the scene said supporters of coup leader General Gilbert Diendere were clearly aiming to pressure the mediators, who also include the United Nations representative in Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas. Serge “Smockey” Bambara, the leader of the Citizen’s Broom organization, wrote on his facebook page that “Our country calls us comrades! They are terrorists. We don’t want to hear about the RSP any more”.
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The 13-point plan also suggests reversing the ban on members of the previous president’s party from standing in forthcoming elections. And will the coming election be open to members of the Compaore administration?
