This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/warning-shots-fired-to-diffuse-protest-over-military-coup-fears

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Warning shots fired to disperse protest over military coup fears Burkina Faso's president and prime minister arrested in apparent coup
(about 3 hours later)
Soldiers fired warning shots to disperse hundreds of protesters outside Burkina Faso’s presidential palace on Wednesday after the presidential guard burst into a cabinet meeting and arrested the interim president, stirring fears of a military coup. 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 Compaore from the presidency.
The presidential guard gave no explanation for its move, which came less than a month before an election due to complete a transition back to democracy after a popular uprising toppled Burkina’s long-time ruler last year. 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.
The guard, known as the regiment of presidential security (RSP), was a key pillar of former president Blaise Compaoré’s rule before he was ousted by demonstrators last October when he attempted to change the constitution to prolong his 27 years in office. International condemnation was swift, with the United Nations and the African Union demanding their immediate release.
Compaoré, who seized power in a 1987 military coup in the landlocked west African state, was a key ally of France and the US in the fight against Islamists in the arid Sahel region. 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.
Moumina Cheriff Sy, the head of the transitional parliament, said the latest show of strength by the presidential guard was a danger to the nation itself. Members of the powerful presidential guard, the RSP, still loyal to Compoare “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 parliamentarly speaker Cheriff Sy in a statement.
“Members of the RSP burst into the room of the cabinet of ministers at around 14.30 and took hostage the president of Burkina Faso Michel Kafando, the prime minister Yacouba Isaac Zida, the minister of public administration ... and the minister of housing,” he said in a statement. 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.
The apparent power-grab came just two days after a government commission recommended dismantling the well-equipped 1,200-strong force, calling it an “army within an army”. 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.
In February, an attempt by the prime minister to reform the guard led to a political crisis as it attempted to force him to resign. Crowds had gathered with whistles and vuvuzelas near the palace, shouting “Down with the RSP”.
In a joint statement, the UN, African Union and the economic community of west African states called for the immediate liberation of the officials and said those responsible would be held to account. They also voiced support for Burkina Faso’s transition back to democracy at the 11 October polls. The headquarters of Compaore’s Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party was ransacked in the evening.
A senior adviser to the head of the transitional parliament said that its members would march on the presidential palace to demand the release of the president and ministers. Sy called the detention of the president and prime minister “a serious attack on the republic”.
“I call on all patriots to mobilise and defend the motherland,” said Sy. “I call on all patriots to mobilise to defend the motherland,” he said.
Demonstrators who gathered on a main road leading to the presidential palace chanted “Down with the RSP” and “We want elections”. Witnesses said soldiers outside the palace fired several warning shots, which prompted the crowds to retreat several hundred metres but not disperse. “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.”
A Reuters witness said members of the presidential guard beat back demonstrators with batons. Gunfire was also reported in a nearby neighbourhood. 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”.
“I am against this repression of our members of government just a month before the election,” said protester Idrissa Pasoba, shouting above the crowd. Compaore 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.
Leaders of Le Balai Citoyen, a citizens movement that was instrumental in organising the protests against Compaoré in October, called its supporters on to the streets in protest. 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.
Private station Radio Omega said on social media that presidential guard soldiers had fired warning shots outside the studio and forced journalists to shut down transmission. Several other Burkinabé radio stations also appeared to have stopped transmitting. While the RSP’s demands are not yet known, it has repeatedly tried to disrupt the transition.
“They were ordered to cut off the antenna otherwise they would be killed,” said Alpha Barry, president director general of Radio Omega. 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-Compaore 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 Compaore 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.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 Compaore’s ousting has provoked street protests and prompted authorities to call for a review of the guard’s role.The RSP’s repeated political meddling since Compaore’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.Monday’s report recommended that the regiment be broken up and its members redeployed within the framework of a broader reform of the military.