GEN. GILBERT DIENDERE, left, who was named leader of Burkina Faso on Thursday, speaks to media in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in this Sept. 19 file photo. West African mediators late Saturday hinted at a breakthrough in Burkina Faso’s political crisis after a military coup brought a general to power less than a month before scheduled elections.
Burkina Faso’s coup leader said Tuesday that negotiations are still ongoing even though a deadline given by the military for the junta to disarm has expired.
Gen. Gilbert Diendere, the coup leader who was head of an elite presidential guard until last year, said he awaits the results of talks by West African regional mediators in Abuja, Nigeria. He said that is likely where a solution lies.
Diendere said there is no use for confrontations at this time, and he is confident in negotiations.
“We will find a solution between brothers in arms to avoid confrontations,” he said.
Burkina Faso’s media reported that the junta had been given a 10 a.m. (1000 GMT) deadline to disarm. The National Armed Forces said it wanted the mutinous soldiers to lay down their arms and return to barracks without bloodshed.
Soldiers from around Burkina Faso poured into the capital, Ouagadougou, overnight in a show of force as the military has vowed to disarm the mutinous presidential guard behind last week’s coup on Tuesday, with force if needed.
“I call on the population of Burkina Faso to remain calm and to have confidence in the National Armed Forces who have reaffirmed their unfailing commitment to preserve the unity of the nation,” Gen. Pingrenoma Zagre said in a statement.
A civic organization told residents to remain in their homes.
Meanwhile, the junta met a key international demand by releasing the country’s interim prime minister, Lt. Col. Yacouba Isaac Zida, who had been detained last week along with the interim president before the transitional government was dissolved.
Diendere on Monday night apologized to the nation through a written communique and said he would hand over power to a civilian transitional government.
West African regional mediators have proposed an agreement that calls for Diendere to step down, and for interim President Michael Kafando to be reinstalled until elections can be held. Kafando, who already had been released by the junta, is staying at the residence of the French ambassador in Ouagadougou.
The vote would take place no later than the end of November, and allies of ex- President Blaise Compaore would be allowed to take part.
An electoral code passed earlier this year had banned members of Compaore’s party from taking part in the election. He was forced from power last October after 27 years in power in a popular uprising after he tried to prolong his rule by amending the constitution.
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