Burkina Faso: Coup Leaders Say President Is Free

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Burkina Faso President Michel Kafando and his ministers have been freed, the coup leaders announced in a statement. MISNA sources in Ouagadougou also report that the situation appears calm in the capital despite the strong opposition to the coup headed by General Gilbert Dienderé.

“In sign of peace and the interest of all, the National Council for Democracy decided to free the ministers and Michel Kafando,” said the statement. Prime Minister Isaac Zida, who clashed over the past months with the Presidential Security Regiment, instead remains detained.

Kafando’s release was announced as African mediators headed by Senegal’s President Macky Sall are expected to arrive today in the capital, where a curfew is in force and tension remains high.

“There is a high risk of more violence, because the people entirely reject the coup leaders, loyalists of former president Compaoré who want to impede elections and suffocate freedoms,” said a MISNA source.

Clashes were reported this morning in the capital, but the roads that take to the city center remain presided by soldiers.

“It seems that at least 16 people were killed yesterday in the unrest, but it is difficult to verify. One certainty however is that doctors and nurses are needed in hospitals and clinics to treat the many injured youths,” added the MISNA source.

MISNA

MISNA, or the Missionary International Service News Agency, provides daily news ‘from, about and for’ the 'world’s Souths', not just in the geographical sense, since December 1997.

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