Burkina Faso is freezing the assets of the leaders of the recent failed coup in which the president and prime minister were taken hostage just weeks before elections were scheduled to be held.
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General Gilbert Diendere, Compaore’s former spy chief and right-hand man, said he staged the coup over the exclusion of several of the former leader’s allies from participating in the polls and plans to disband the presidential guard.
The guard arrested Interim President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida on September 16.
Despite the amicable surrender, reports indicate about 10 people died in the failed coup and about 100 were injured in the clashes.
The unit has apologised for its actions and is now being disarmed.
Kafando must now organize an election to install a democratic government in Burkina Faso.
Diendere acknowledged midweek the coup was a “mistake” which did not enjoy popular backing. Compaore was president for 27 years, and his bid to further extend his rule prompted massive street protests that led to his ouster.
Zida said Friday a 30-day investigation will be launched into the coup.
“We will apply what the heads of state decide at the ECOWAS level”, Diendere said.
The decision to free Kafando appeared to signal possible flexibility by General Gilbert Diendere and the junta ahead of talks on Friday with Senegalese President Macky Sall, current chairman of the West African ECOWAS bloc.
Elite guard members were unhappy that the transitional government barred supporters loyal to Compaore from contesting in the country’s national election. However the proposal, which included an amnesty for the coup leaders, was swiftly rejected by civil society and opposition politicians.
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Anti-coup demonstrators burned tires at roadblocks in Burkina Faso’s capital on Saturday as West African mediators continued pursuing a negotiated resolution to the country’s political crisis following the toppling of the transitional government earlier this week.
