Burkina Faso's President And Prime Minister Arrested In Apparent Coup

Street protests and UN condemnation after forces loyal to ousted former leader Blaise Compaoré bundle away Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Isaac Zida

People protesting against the presidential guard block the traffic in Ouagadougou. Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Burkina Faso’s presidential guard has detained the interim president and prime minister, plunging the West African country into uncertainty a few weeks before the first elections since the ouster of Blaise Compaoré from the presidency. The detention of the nation’s transitional leaders on Wednesday triggered immediate street protests outside the presidential palace where the men were being held. Gunfire pierced the air as soldiers tried to disperse several hundred demonstrators.

International condemnation was swift, with the United Nations and the African Union demanding their immediate release.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he was “outraged” by the developments. “This incident is a flagrant violation of Burkina Faso’s constitution and transitional charter,” he said.

Members of the powerful presidential guard, the RSP, still loyal to Compaoré “burst into the cabinet room at 2.30pm and kidnapped the president of Burkina Faso Michel Kafando and prime minister Isaac Zida, and two ministers, Augustin Loada and Rene Bagoro,” said interim parliamentary speaker Cheriff Sy in a statement.

The UK Guardian report continues:

Broadcasts by Radio France Internationale and the private Omega radio station were cut. Omega boss Alpha Barry told France 24 television that RSP troops had interrupted programming and threatened to kill staff if they did not stop transmitting.

Protesters chant slogans against the presidential guard. Photograph: Joe Penney/Reuters

Protesters marching on the presidential palace in the capital Ouagadougou to condemn the hostage-taking scattered as bursts of gunfire broke out around 7.30pm. By 9pm the occasional shot could still be heard, the AFP correspondent at the scene said.

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Crowds had gathered with whistles and vuvuzelas near the palace, shouting “Down with the RSP”.

The headquarters of Compaoré’s Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party was ransacked in the evening.

Sy called the detention of the president and prime minister “a serious attack on the republic”.

“I call on all patriots to mobilize to defend the motherland,” he said.

“Duty calls us because the Burkinabe nation is in danger. We call on the solidarity that active forces, political forces, civil society and the international community have with all the people of Burkina Faso to defeat this operation.”

The country’s main trade unions of the General Labour Federation of Burkina Faso launched a joint appeal “to observe a general strike throughout the national territory (...) against the RSP interference in politics and for a true democracy”.

Compaoré was toppled in October 2014 and fled into exile in Ivory Coast after a popular uprising triggered by his attempt to extend his 27-year rule.

A transitional government has been charged with running the poverty-stricken nation until presidential and legislative elections are held, the first round of which is to take place on 11 October.

While the RSP’s demands are not yet known, it has repeatedly tried to disrupt the transition.

On Monday the country’s National Reconciliation and Reforms Commission recommended that the 1,300-man security force, considered the landlocked country’s best troops, be disbanded.

In a joint statement the United Nations, African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages”.

The UN Security Council condemned the detentions and urged “all actors in Burkina Faso to refrain from any violence”.

On the ground, the Balai Citoyen (“Civic Broom”) movement, which was at the forefront of last year’s anti-Compaoré protests, called for protesters to gather to “say no to the coup d’etat under way”, an appeal that was shared widely on social networks.

State television was broadcasting its usual cartoons and a football match. Its buildings have traditionally been guarded by the RSP.

A local journalist, contacted by AFP, said employees had left the broadcaster’s offices as RSP reinforcements arrived.

The RSP sparked a brief political crisis in June by demanding the resignation of Zida, an army lieutenant-colonel and number two in the powerful regiment, who had publicly called for the unit to be dissolved in the interest of national security.

Supporters of Compaoré are banned from standing in the upcoming elections under a controversial election law passed in April, which made anyone who supported “unconstitutional change” ineligible to run.

A French security source said that about 20 soldiers from an intelligence gathering unit were being deployed to Ouagadougou to monitor the situation. France issued a travel warning to its citizens in the country to stay at home.

The RSP’s repeated political meddling since Compaoré’s ousting has provoked street protests and prompted authorities to call for a review of the guard’s role.

Monday’s report recommended that the regiment be broken up and its members redeployed within the framework of a broader reform of the military.