Burkina Faso peace talks in chaos as armed factions clash
PEACE negotiations convened in the wake of last week’s military coup in Burkina Faso descended into chaos last night after fighting erupted at the hotel where the talks were being held.
Foreign ambassadors had to scramble for cover as armed coup supporters attacked anti-coup demonstrators at the Laico Hotel in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou.
Observers said the coup supporters, some wearing balaclavas, chased their opponents through the hotel grounds while firing guns in the air.
They also stormed the hotel lobby, chanting slogans and smashing furniture.
“They invaded the hotel. It was violent,” said one witness to the trouble.
The chaos also forced the French ambassador, Gilles Thibault, to issue a statement confirming that he had not been taken hostage.
The violence followed a military takeover on Wednesday, when troops from the presidential guard of the west African nation’s former leader, Blaise Compaore, stormed a cabinet meeting of the transitional government that was set up following the president’s deposition.
A former right-hand man to Mr Compaore, Gen Gilbert Diendere, then appeared on national television to announce that he was in charge.
The coup came just a month ahead of planned elections to appoint a replacement to Mr Compaore, who was ousted after 27 years in power following a popular uprising last October.
It is not clear whether Mr Compaore, who is now in exile, has had a hand in planning the coup.
Gen Diendere has claimed to have acted because of plans to disband the presidential guard, and because several of the former president’s allies have been barred from taking part in next month’s elections.
At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations in recent days.
Macky Sall, the Senegalese president who is leading the peace talks, said yesterday that negotiators were seeking the return of Michel Kafando, Burkina Faso’s interim president, who has been placed under house arrest by the coup leaders.