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Burkina Faso Military Junta Frees Interim President

The junta released a statement confirming that Michel Kafando was freed from military custody.

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The African Union has threatened Burkina Faso with sanctions unless power was handed over to civilians, and an agreement was reached on a transitional period.

At least three people have been killed and 60 injured during street clashes in Burkina Faso’s capital as protesters demonstrated against a military coup, a senior source in the main hospital has said, reports Aljazeera.

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. Diendere said Kafando has been in his official residence since he was released late on Thursday.

He has acknowledged his past as a coup leader but rejected descriptions of himself as a dictator and vowed to operate “under democratic rules”, calling himself a “converted democrat”.

The announcment comes after AP reported that armed forces personnel assigned to protect the president had arrested the transitional head of state and prime minister.

“There is a critical lack of dialogue among actors, and this will negatively affect national unity and cohesion”, Sall warned.

Sources close to Kafando also said that the former president is “safe” and is also under house arrest, a point that the Junta’s statement did not mention.

Dissolving the country’s political institutions, the guards immediately announced the establishment of a “National Democratic Council” which would end “the deviant regime of transition” and create a government which would organise “inclusive” elections.

Elections were due to be held in the West African nation on 11 October, almost a year after a popular uprising forced Mr Compaore, the long-time ruler of the West African country, from power.

It confirmed the military coup in Burkina Faso stating the President and the Prime Minister are safe. “But we plan to discuss all that with the concerned actors, notably the political parties and civil society organizations, to establish a timetable that allows us to move towards presidential and parliamentary elections”.

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The 1,300-member presidential guard is believed to have been unsatisfied with plans to dissolve it and integrate it into the military police.

UN chief condemns Burkina Faso coup