Burkina Faso President Back in Power 1 Week After Coup

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Burkina Faso President Back in Power 1 Week After Coup

By BRAHIMA OUEDRAOGO, ASSOCIATED PRESS OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Sep 23, 2015, 6:40 AM ET

Burkina Faso's interim president declared Wednesday he is once again in charge of the country a week after a military general and his supporters overthrew him and his transitional government.

Interim President Michel Kafando had been arrested by members of the presidential guard a week ago, and later sought refuge at the residence of the French ambassador. In recent days, Burkina Faso's army sent troops into the capital to pressure Diendere and his soldiers to cede power. The military threatened to disarm them by force if necessary.

A regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, also called on the junta to lay down its arms.

"During this ordeal we have fought together and in freedom we triumph together," Kafando said in a declaration to the nation as presidents of neighboring countries arrived in Burkina Faso.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/burkina-faso-president-back-power-week-coup-33969614

[Hortensis]

1. Presidential guard that staged the coup return to barracks?

Gee, what could go further wrong for them? We were thinking of a nice winter vacation there, but the State Department advises against while this is on, so we're thinking maybe Sudan.

I dragged up what I thought was a good "big view" article from the uprising last fall. It's a really rocky picture, naturally, but seemed to me hopefully more positive than not, like this failed coup. Of course, I'm eternally hopeful.

[link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/11/02/burkina-fasos-uprising-part-of-an-ongoing-wave-of-african-protests/|

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Commentary - it's not clear if the coup leader will be prosecuted in any form

Days before last week’s coup, however, a commission appointed to look into its future concluded that the RSP must be disbanded and reintegrated into the army. Whoever won the election planned for 11 October would have been likely to carry out the recommendation, especially since people close to Compaoré have been prevented from standing. Apart from anything else, the RSP’s storming of the cabinet meeting was an act of self-preservation.

A week later, and Kafando is in charge again; Diendéré has described the events of the past few days as ‘a mistake’. In the face of outrage and street protests, opposition from the rest of the army, and denouncements from ECOWAS, the African Union and the Elysée (Kafando sought refuge at the French embassy when he was released), the RSP was forced to back down.

The good news, according to Diendéré, is that confrontation was avoided. That’s one way of looking at it. Activists posted photographs of RSP brutality on social media: a protester lying in a pool of blood; another who appeared to have been blinded; a third with his skull split open; others were unconscious; bloodied; gouged. Radio stations were ransacked, their equipment vandalised and journalists threatened. The coup may be over but questions remain: will Diendéré be prosecuted? Will elections go ahead, and who will be allowed to stand? What is the future of the RSP?

‘Assurances were given that the RSP would not be dissolved,’ Diendéré said as he was leaving a discussion with regional mediators yesterday. Perhaps the coup wasn’t such a mistake for the RSP after all. The details of the agreement have yet to emerge, but it seems likely that it will be left to the citizens of Burkina Faso, once again, to risk their lives to hold the men in uniform to account.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2015/09/24/alexandra-reza/the-coup-in-burkina-faso/

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Burkina Faso Army: Soldiers Behind Coup Not Disarming

Burkina Faso's army says the elite presidential guard behind a recent coup attempt is refusing to be disarmed.

The army says the planned disarmament of the guard, known as the RSP, has reached a "dead end" because soldiers will not give up their weapons and because of "ambiguous behavior" of RSP chief and coup leader General Gilbert Diendere.

The disarmament effort began Friday, the day Burkina Faso's leaders officially disbanded the guard.

The Cabinet is expected to hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the situation, and civil society groups have called for people to protest.

http://www.voanews.com/content/burkina-faso-coup-presidential-guard-soldiers-disarmament/2982471.html