Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Ouagadougou (Agenzia Fides) - "The crisis is evolving in a positive way, but is not over yet", sources of the Church in Burkina Faso told Fides, where military coup leaders have announced the release of the Prime Minister of transition, Isaac Zida, who had been placed in a "supervised residence" in the Presidential Building occupied on September 17 by the men of Régiment de Sécurité Présidentiel (RSP), the "praetorian guard" of ousted President Blaise Compaore (see Fides 17/09/2015).
The people took to the streets of the capital Ouagadougou to protest against the coup and the regular army has surrounded the city and has given the coup leaders an ultimatum to surrender by noon today, Central European Time. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has proposed an agreement: to give troops full amnesty, and allow candidates of former ruler Blaise Compaore to run for presidency in November.
"The agreement proposed by ECOWAS has been rejected by large segments of the local population because this deal means legitimizing the use of force. Prosecutors have already announced they will reject the agreement even threatening to resign if it were applied", the sources told Fides. "The agreement presented by ECOWAS will not be accepted by all political parties. The positive thing is that the army wants to avoid bloodshed".
"The leader of the coup, General Gilbert Diendéré apologized for the coup. In any case, we hope that the crisis will be resolved without bloodshed", say our sources. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/09/2015)
