Protesters storm Burkina Faso’s parliament before constitutional vote

[Bosonic]

Source: The Guardian

Hundreds of demonstrators have stormed parliament in Burkina Faso’s capital in protest against plans to change the constitution that will allow President Blaise Compaoré to extend his 27-year rule.

Police had fired teargas at the protesters to try to prevent them from moving in on the national assembly building in Ouagadougou on Thursday before a vote on the contentious legislation.

But about 1,500 people managed to break through the security cordon and ransacked parliamentary offices, set fire to documents, stole computer equipment, and set fire to cars outside, according to AFP correspondents.

Burkina Faso has been tense for days in the runup to the vote. Police and soldiers were out in force around the parliament building after mass rallies called by the opposition earlier this week.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/30/protesters-storm-burkina-faso-parliament-constitution-vote-president-blaise-compaore

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[Kelvin Mace]

1. OK, I am going to be honest

I had to look this country up. It used to be Upper Volta, but was renamed in 1984. I have a 2002 world map in my office that still lists it as "Upper Volta".

[Eugene]

2. Updated story at link: Protesters set fire to Burkina Faso’s parliament

Source: Agence France-Presse

Protesters set fire to Burkina Faso’s parliament

Agence France-Presse in Ouagadougou
The Guardian, Thursday 30 October 2014 14.51 GMT

Demonstrators have set the Burkina Faso parliament on fire in a surge of violence has that forced the government to scrap a vote on plans to allow President Blaise Compaoré to extend his 27-year rule.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/30/protesters-storm-burkina-faso-parliament-constitution-vote-president-blaise-compaore

[Eugene]

3. Protesters march on Burkina presidency after burning parliament

Source: Reuters

Protesters march on Burkina presidency after burning parliament

BY MATHIEU BONKOUNGOU AND JOE PENNEY
OUAGADOUGOU Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:07am EDT

(Reuters) - Thousands of protesters marched on Burkina Faso's presidential palace after burning the parliament building and ransacking state television offices on Thursday, forcing President Blaise Compaore to scrap a plan to extend his 27-year rule.

Emergency services said at least three protesters were shot dead and several others wounded by security forces when the crowd tried to storm the home of Compaore's brother. Security forces also fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters near the presidency in the Ouaga 2000 neighborhood.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/30/us-burkina-politics-idUSKBN0IJ0NZ20141030

[Bette Noir]

4. "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible

make violent revolution inevitable." JFK

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Army dissolves government; president may or may not still be in office

I can't work out the order of these stories yet:

Protesters torch Parliament building in Burkina Faso; military seizes control

The military in the West African nation of Burkina Faso seized control of the government on Thursday and set a dusk-to-dawn curfew in what one general described as an effort to protect lives and restore order.
...
"An interim authority will be set up in order to prepare the conditions for the return to normal constitutional order within a period of 12 months at the latest," Traore said.

The whereabouts of Compaore were not immediately known, and it was not immediately clear whether he had surrendered control of the country.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/30/world/africa/burkina-faso-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Compaore says will step down as Burkina Faso president

"With regard to myself, I am available to open talks on a transitional period at the end of which I will hand over power," Compaore said Thursday night in a statement broadcast on BF1 TV.
...
Several hours after opposition lawmakers and high-level military officials met, Burkina Faso army chief, General Honore Traore, told reporters in the capital that the government had been dissolved. A curfew was also put into place for 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time (1900-0600 UTC).
...
Shortly before General Traore's announcement, President Compaore had reportedly declared a state of siege. An announcer from the Ougadougou station Radio Omega FM had read the statement from the office of the presidency, which also purported that the leader would seek talks with opposition leaders.

http://www.dw.de/compaore-says-will-step-down-as-burkina-faso-president/a-18031319