News Digest

West African presidents call for one-year transition in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso’s political parties and civil society leaders on Wednesday agreed in crisis talks that the country’s political transition should last a year, with elections to be held in November 2015, a statement said. The talks, which were also attended by religious and tribal chiefs, ended however without naming a new leader to head a unity transition government. But security guards had to intervene as talks between the opposition and Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan, Ghana’s John Dramani Mahama and Macky Sall of Senegal broke down with emotions high over the possible involvement of Compaore loyalists in any new provisional government.

We haven’t even buried our dead yet and they are putting arrogant people back in office who held the people in contempt.

Luc Marius Ibriga, the spokesman for the civil society groups

The presidents of Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal flew to the embattled country to broker a transition deal as Canada suspended its aid to the impoverished west African nation and other nations considered after the military named an interim leader to head the country. The army stepped in to fill the power vacuum left by Compaore, who was deposed by a violent popular uprising on Friday that some had likened to the Arab Spring after 27 years in power.