Coup ousts transitional government in Burkina Faso ahead of elections

Officers of the elite presidential guard in the former French colony of Burkina Faso have seized power in a coup and named a close aide to a former president as the country's new leader.

The coup in the West African country comes just weeks before Oct. 11 elections aimed at replacing a transitional government.

At least one person was killed when the presidential guard opened fire to disperse crowds protesting the coup, witnesses said, according to the Associated Press. At least 60 people were wounded, AFP reported.

Reuters reported as many as 10 people may have been killed in the crackdown.

The power grab, which violated the country's constitution, was quickly condemned by French president Francois Hollande, who called for the immediate release of interim President MIchel Kafando and Prime Minister Isaac Zida. Both were detained during a cabinet meeting in the presidential palace.

Hollande called on those involved to "immediately stop what they are doing," the AFP reported. He added, however, that the 220 French troops based in the capital "have no reason to intervene."

A communique announcing the coup, read by Lt. Col. Mamadou Bamba, criticized the electoral code, which blocked members of ex-president Blaise Compaore's party from taking part in the elections, AP reported. Anyone who supported the ex-president's bid to amend the constitution so he could seek another term is also banned from running.

The coup leaders, who come from an elite presidential guard unit that had disagreed publicly with the transitional government in recent months, identified themselves as the National Council for Democracy.

Gen. Gilbert Diendere, who was Compaore's chief of staff, was named as head of the country, according to state radio. Compaore was ousted in a popular uprising last year after 27 years in power. He currently lives in exile.

In a telephone interview with the magazine Jeune Afrique, Diendere said Kafando and Zida had been placed under house arrest. "They are doing well and will be released," he said, adding elections would be held after discussions with "all political actors."

In an interview with the AP, however, the military general said the Oct. 11 date for planned national elections appears to be “too soon.”

Diendere acknowledged that the coup-makers had friends in former president Compaore's party, but that this was not behind their actions and that he was not in contact with the ex-president.

There were signs Thursday of growing resistance to the coup. In addition to street protest, there was an effort to set up a rival power center. In an interview with  Radio France Internationale, Cherif Sy, the speaker of the transitional parliament, declared himself "interim head of state."

Radio Omega, a local media outlet, tweeted a statement from Sy in which he called on the chief of staff of the regular armed forces "to take all steps to stop this abuse of power."

Le Balai Citoyen, an influential civil society group in Burkina Faso, called for a popular resistance to the coup.

"These thugs, these evils believe that the people of Burkina Faso will accept their attempted coup which already appears as a bad joke in the eyes of all the national community," the group said on its Facebook page. "We reject the insulting message delivered by these stateless driven by the forces of evil in which they call to the surrender of an entire people standing up and proud."

All borders into the country were closed and several mobile units of the presidential guard, known as the Régiment de sécurité présidentielle (RSP), were sent to the capital to prevent any public gatherings, BBC correspondent Yacouba Ouédraogo reported from the capital of Ouagadougou.

The coup leaders also imposed a night-time curfew across Burkina Faso, AFP reported. The headquarters of Compaore's Congress for Democracy and Progress party were ransacked as news of the coup spread, AFP reported.

Washington said it is “deeply concerned” about the events. “The United States strongly condemns any attempt to seize power through extra-constitutional means or resolve internal political disagreements using force,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.