News Digest

Burkina Faso pledges ‘consensus’ govt after pressure from African Union

Burkina Faso’s army will quickly cede power to a transitional government and appoint a new head of state, the country’s interim President Isaac Zida said on Monday, looking to calm accusations that the military had seized power in a coup after the African nations gave the regime two weeks to return to civilian rule. Longtime president Blaise Compaore stepped down on Friday following two days of mass protests in the impoverished West African nation over his bid to extend his 27-year rule by amending the constitution. Angry, violent protests prompted the international community to threaten sanctions if the army refused to back down and hand power back to the civilians.

We are not here to usurp power and to sit in place and run the country, but to help the country come out of this situation.

Interim President Isaac Zida

"The African Union is convinced that the change has been against democracy," said Simeon Oyono Esono, head of the AU’s Peace and Security Council. Esono said the AU, which has been backed by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, took into account the origin of the regime change in a popular revolt when deciding how long to give the army to reverse course. Compaore was only 36 when he seized power in a 1987 coup in which his former friend and one of Africa’s most loved leaders, Thomas Sankara, was ousted and assassinated. Outraged by Compaore’s plans to prolong his rule, hundreds of thousands of protesters massed on the streets of Ouagadougou on Thursday, some going on a rampage and setting the parliament and other public buildings ablaze.