COUP PLAN THWARTED IN BURKINA FASO

OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso said it thwarted a plan by former soldiers of an elite army unit to overthrow the government and free a military leader who was responsible for a short-lived coup last year. About 30 men from the nowdisbanded presidential guard planned a coup on Oct 8, Security Minister Simon Compaore told reporters on Friday in the capital, Ouagadougou. He said they wanted to attack the presidential palace and a military camp where Gilbert Diendere is jailed, a high-ranking officer who seized power in a brief coup that failed because the army didn’t support it. At least 19 soldiers have been arrested and two former presidential guards were killed in an altercation with security forces.